396 people died in accidents on Austria’s roads in 2023. That is seven percent more than in 2022, but for the fourth time since 2019 fewer than 400 deaths in a year, which means the number is below the pre-Corona level four years ago with 416 deaths. In the long term, this means the fourth lowest number of victims since records began, the Interior Ministry (BMI) reported on New Year’s Day.
In Burgenland there were 20 traffic deaths last year (2022: 19), in Carinthia 29 (21), in Salzburg 36 (19), in Styria 81 (70), in Tyrol 35 (29). While the number of victims has increased in these five federal states, they have fallen in Vorarlberg with twelve (16), in Lower Austria with 97 (98), in Upper Austria with 73 (80) and in Vienna with 13 (18) compared to 2022.
Shifts in the main causes of accidents
Compared to 2022, there were shifts in the probable main causes of accidents, there were fewer accidents caused by alcohol, heart or circulatory failure or acute illnesses while driving – declines were also recorded in cases of a lack of safe distance, disregard of commands or prohibitions and violation of right of way. However, there were increases in the main causes of pedestrian misbehavior, inadequate driving speed, overtaking, fatigue and inattention or distraction.
Fatal accidents due to inattention or distraction (27.3 percent), together with improper driving speed (25.6 percent), account for over 50 percent of the suspected causes. This is followed by priority violations (15.0 percent), overtaking (8.1 percent) and pedestrian misconduct (6.7 percent).
7 children died in traffic in 2023
Seven children aged up to 14 years died in road traffic last year, four of them as car passengers, two as pedestrians and one as the driver of a “toy and trendy sports device”, the BMI reported. In 2022, 13 children died in accidents and in 2021, six children died. Two children aged six to 15 died in an accident on the way to school in 2023.
The most serious accident last year occurred on Saturday, August 12, 2023 at around 7 a.m. on the northern motorway (A5) in the municipality of Bad Pirawarth, Gänserndorf district, in Lower Austria. When a minibus rolled over from the highway onto an agricultural road underneath, four Ukrainian passengers, two of them children, were killed and three others were seriously injured.
48 dead on motorways and expressways
In total there were 48 fatalities on motorways and expressways; This means a share of 12.1 percent of all traffic fatalities and an increase of 14 (41.1 percent) compared to 2022. The majority of fatal accidents occur on the former federal highways (148 fatalities), state roads (121) and other roads ( 79). 301 road users (76 percent) died in open areas in 2023, 95 (24 percent) in the local area.
In the fatal traffic accidents in 2023, 178 car occupants lost their lives, 82 motorcyclists (including 22 with light motorcycles), 49 pedestrians, 41 cyclists (including 17 with electric bicycles), 16 truck occupants (including 13 in small trucks) lost their lives. and ten moped drivers died.
The number of motorcycle and light motorcycle drivers killed has increased
The number of motorcycle and light motorcycle drivers killed has increased significantly compared to 2022, with 55 motorcyclists killed, the lowest number recorded in the past 30 years. The highest number in this period was 112 deaths in 1997 and 2000. According to the BMI, the number of truck occupants killed has declined somewhat.
Of the pedestrians killed, eight died on a protective path; in 2022 there were 14. Eleven people had fatal accidents on level crossings at railway crossings (2022: 17). There were two deaths in road tunnels in 2023 (2022: three). Two road users were killed in traffic accidents involving wrong-way drivers in 2023, compared to zero in the previous year.
136 of 178 car occupants who were involved in an accident were wearing seatbelts
129 or 35.4 percent of all fatal accidents (364) in 2023 were solo accidents. Of the 178 car occupants who died in accidents, 136 used a seat belt. Over a third of all traffic fatalities (148 or 37.4 percent) were 60 years or older at the time of the accident, 42 of them (10.6 percent of all fatalities) were older than 80 years. In the 17 to 29 age group, 82 people (20.7 percent of all traffic fatalities) died in traffic accidents last year. 86 or 21.7 percent of the road users killed were non-Austrian citizens; one in five fatal traffic accidents (76 or 20.9 percent) was caused by a foreign national.
VCÖ: “A reminder to politicians”
“This sad accident record is a reminder to politicians to implement more measures to reduce the excessive number of serious traffic accidents,” said VCÖ spokesman Christian Gratzer on Monday about the accident record. In 2022, 370 people died in traffic accidents; the goal for 2023 was fewer than 352 fatalities, the traffic club wrote. A goal that was clearly missed.
The great need to catch up in Austria is also made clear by a comparison with Switzerland, where the number of traffic deaths in 2022 was 241, significantly lower than in Austria. And while 100 people were killed in traffic accidents in Switzerland in the first half of 2023, the figure was 79 percent more in Austria at 179, the VCÖ reported.
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Source: Nachrichten
