oncoming traffic
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oncoming traffic
All the vehicles traveling on a road in the opposite direction.
Beim Überholen auf der Landstraße muss man immer auf den Gegenverkehr achten.
When passing on a country road, you always have to watch out for oncoming traffic.
The word is made up of 'gegen' (against/toward) and 'Verkehr' (traffic). So it literally describes traffic that is coming toward you.
Ein Falschfahrer ist eine große Gefahr für den Gegenverkehr.
A wrong-way driver is a major danger to oncoming traffic.
Common verbs in connection with 'Gegenverkehr' (oncoming traffic) are 'achten auf' (to watch out for), 'übersehen' (to fail to see), 'gefährden' (to endanger), or 'in den Gegenverkehr geraten' (to end up in oncoming traffic).
Der Fahrer hat beim Abbiegen den Gegenverkehr übersehen.
The driver failed to see the oncoming traffic while turning.
'Gegenverkehr' (oncoming traffic) often appears with prepositions that require the accusative when movement or direction is being described, e.g. 'in den Gegenverkehr' (into oncoming traffic) or 'auf den Gegenverkehr' (toward/on oncoming traffic).
Das Auto kam von der Straße ab und fuhr direkt in den Gegenverkehr.
The car left the road and drove straight into oncoming traffic.
traffic / contact
'der Verkehr' and 'der Gegenverkehr' both have to do with vehicles on the road. 'der Verkehr' is general and means all vehicles or movement along a route. 'der Gegenverkehr' means only the vehicles coming from the opposite direction. The words can be confused especially when driving, because both appear in the same situation. If you are talking about the overall road situation, you say 'Verkehr'. If it is about the other direction of travel, 'Gegenverkehr' is correct.
Beim Überholen musste Max warten, weil Gegenverkehr kam.
When passing, Max had to wait because there was oncoming traffic.
Am Bahnhof war so viel Verkehr, dass der Bus kaum vorankam.
There was so much traffic at the train station that the bus could hardly move forward.