Collision Near Veliki Žali Cuts Off Dubrovnik
Traffic expert Željko Marušić calls for urgent modernization of police investigations using drones and helicopters to prevent multi-hour standstills on the only road to Dubrovnik.
Traffic expert Željko Marušić calls for urgent modernization of police investigations using drones and helicopters to prevent multi-hour standstills on the only road to Dubrovnik.
A traffic accident that occurred on Friday, August 7, 2026, on the D8 state road near Veliki Žali completely blocked the only road connection to Dubrovnik. The collision of two vehicles, in which several people were injured, caused a traffic collapse and a queue stretching for kilometers.
According to information from the Traffic Police of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Police Department, the collision between a camper van and a passenger car, both with foreign license plates, happened around 9:50 AM on the Adriatic Highway. Emergency medical vehicles and police officers conducting the investigation were immediately dispatched to the scene.
Due to the ongoing investigation, traffic was completely halted in both directions. The queue of vehicles from the Dubrovnik side stretches from Orašac, and according to reports from the Viber group "Radarska kontrola Dubrovnik," the tail of the queue reached as far as Trsteno. The situation is further complicated by congestion on the old bypass road over Majkovo, which drivers use as an alternative route, as reported by the group "Radari i kontrole dubrovačke županije."
Traffic expert Željko Marušić, in a statement to N1, as reported by Slobodna Dalmacija, sharply criticized the way traffic accident investigations are conducted, emphasizing that the methods are outdated and cause unnecessary multi-hour blockades.
"Once the injured are taken care of, which is the most important thing, the investigation itself can and should take much less time, not hours as it does now. The police should use drones, not techniques from fifty years ago," Marušić stated.
Marušić believes that using modern technology, such as drones for 3D scanning of the accident scene, can speed up evidence collection and quickly remove damaged vehicles from traffic lanes. "We simply need to speed up and improve this procedure using helicopters and drones. The most important thing is to take care of the injured, and then remove the damaged vehicles from the traffic lanes as soon as possible. The police could train for this. It should not happen that investigations last for hours," he added.
The expert also put forward three concrete proposals to improve the procedure. The first is the urgent clearance of necessary space on the road and the use of high technology to secure evidence, including 3D scanning with drones. The second proposal is to ensure on-call service teams at strategic locations for the rapid removal of damaged vehicles.
"And third, for any standstill caused by a traffic accident and investigation on the highway lasting more than 90 minutes, an investigative committee should be established to assess the reasons for the length of the process and initiate measures for improvement," Marušić concluded.
