2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
In the large ADAC service station test, the automobile club tested facilities at home and abroad: winners and losers come from Germany.
The result of this year's ADAC service station test is sobering. A third of the test candidates simply failed. No system was rated “very good”; only twelve establishments were rated “good”. As in previous years, winners and losers come from Germany.
The Mövenpick Marché service station Fläming Ost on the A 9 Leipzig - Berlin ranks right at the top of the ranking. The Neumünster-Süd truck stop on the A 7 Flensburg - Hamburg is far behind. In the eighth rest stop test since 1999, 63 systems in seven countries were put to the test, 40 of them in Germany, including 20 truck stops.
Outstanding gastronomy
The Fläming Ost service area received the most points for the safe and well-kept outdoor facilities and the play facilities for children. The outstanding gastronomic performance of the restaurant is also impressive. If the prices were more moderate and parking spaces for camping vehicles were shown, the rest area would even have received a «very good».
The loser, the Neumünster Süd truck stop, is completely different. Drivers who take the six-kilometer detour will come across a facility that will leave them with a relaxing break on the route. Bad food, unfriendly service, unsavory toilets, unsafe outside area and no playground - nothing that promises a pleasant stay.
Long list of defects at truck stops
“The result of the German truck stops this year gives cause for concern. The positive trend of the past few years has obviously come to an end for the time being,”says Max Stich, ADAC Vice President for Tourism. In the overall ranking, the first truck stop, Hilpodrom, is only in ninth place. Three systems were rated “very poor”. The biggest shortcoming: the security of the outdoor facilities. Overall, almost half of the truck stops received the grades “poor” or “very poor”.
According to ADAC, pedestrian safety is one of the main deficiencies in the test - a good half of the systems failed on this point. The lack of footpaths along the parking lots and the clear marking of pedestrian crossings are criticized. However: Responsibility for the outdoor facilities of the German rest stops is not the operator, but the federal government and, at many truck stops, the oil companies. It is particularly disappointing for families that around half of all facilities have no playgrounds and only a third have acceptable picnic areas.
