Nine years ago, 531 road fatalities were reported.
This year’s number of fatalities in road traffic corresponds to almost one eighth of the fatalities in 1972, the “blackest year” in the accident statistics to date with 2,948 deaths. The number of registered motor vehicles has almost tripled since 1972 and has risen from 2.5 million to 7.2 million, reported the ministry.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) announced that he would “consistently” continue on the path “in order to keep the number of accidents as low as possible”. On the one hand, we focus on campaigns against drink-driving, drugs, driving fast and jostling, “on the other hand, we focus on awareness-raising and traffic education”.
There was an increase in the number of road deaths in Carinthia (plus three), in Lower Austria (plus two), in Tyrol (plus two), in Vienna (plus three) and above all in Upper Austria with plus 24. In all other federal states there was Declines. In Burgenland, Salzburg and Styria, the lowest number of road deaths in 60 years was recorded in 2021.
The number of victims by federal state reads as follows: Burgenland eight (2020: 18), Carinthia 38 (35), Lower Austria 92 (90), Upper Austria 91 (67), Salzburg 24 (28), Styria 50 (52), Tyrol 28 ( 26), Vorarlberg 13 (16) and Vienna 15 (twelve).
In the fatal road accidents in 2021, 161 car occupants, 75 motorcyclists (19 with light motorcycles), 48 cyclists (22 with electric bikes), 35 pedestrians, 19 truck occupants (15 with small trucks), 13 died Moped drivers (including one with an electric moped), three tractor drivers, two drivers of e-scooters, one microcar driver, one driver of a self-propelled work machine and one other person involved. The number of car occupants, cyclists and e-bike drivers, moped drivers and light motorcycle drivers killed has increased compared to 2020. The number of pedestrians killed has decreased.
The main cause of the accident is excessive speed
The presumed main causes of fatal traffic accidents are unadjusted driving speed (26.9 percent), inattention / distraction (24.5 percent) and violation of priority (15.5 percent). In addition, there were disregard of requirements / prohibitions (6.9 percent), misconduct by pedestrians (5.7 percent), overtaking (five percent), cardiovascular failure / acute illnesses at the wheel (4.1 percent), fatigue (three percent ), insufficient safety margin (1.5 percent) and technical defects (0.3 percent) identified as possible causes of fatal traffic accidents. Alcoholization was involved in 22 or 6.6 percent of fatal accidents.
There were increases in the causes of alcohol, disregard of rules / prohibitions, overtaking, fatigue, inattention / distraction and violation of priority, as reported by the BMI. Six children up to the age of 14 died in road traffic in 2021 (2020: two, 2019: 16 children), three of them as car occupants and one child each as a pedestrian, as a passenger on a moped and as a cyclist. A child aged six to 15 died in an accident on the way to school in 2021.
A pedestrian was killed on a protective path (2020: 8). Nine people had fatal accidents on level crossings at level crossings (2020: 15). There were two deaths in road tunnels in 2021 (2020: three). In traffic accidents with wrong-way drivers, three road users were killed in 2021 (2020: 0).
Lots of single accidents
37 road users died on motorways and expressways, which means a share of 10.3 percent of all road deaths and a slight increase of three or 8.8 percent compared to 2020 (34). The majority of fatal accidents occur on the former federal highways (134 fatalities).
123 (36.7 percent) of all fatal accidents are solo accidents with only one vehicle involved in the accident. Of the 161 car occupants who died in an accident, 42 were not wearing their seat belts. A third of all road fatalities (119 or 33.1 percent) were 60 years of age or older at the time of the accident, 35 of them (9.7 percent) even older than 80 years. In the age group 17 to 29, 84 people (23.3 percent of all road fatalities) were killed in traffic last year. Almost one in four fatal traffic accidents (83 or 24.7 percent) was caused by foreign nationals.
The Verkehrsclub Österreich (VCÖ) reminded in a broadcast that the road safety target for 2020 was less than 312 road deaths and that it was also clearly missed in 2021. In Switzerland, which is easily comparable to Austria, 86 people died on the road in the first half of 2021, in Austria the death toll was 75 percent higher at 151. “The 359 fatalities are a reminder for increased road safety measures to be implemented at federal and state level as well as in cities and municipalities,” said VCÖ spokesman Christian Gratzer. An important measure for more safety is a speed limit of 80 instead of 100 on open-air roads. Overall, in 22 of the 27 EU countries, the speed limit on open-air roads is 90 or 80 km / h lower than in Austria.
Source: Nachrichten
