388 wrong-way drivers were reported on Hitradio Ö3 last year, an increase of 42 cases or twelve percent compared to 2020. Back then, in the first year of the corona pandemic with strict measures such as lockdowns, the number had also reached an all-time low of 346. In 2021 it was again slightly above the average of 381 reports over the past 13 years. Three people died in wrong-way driver accidents, in 2020 there had been no deaths.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, there were nine accidents involving wrong-way drivers, and seven people were injured: in addition to the three fatalities, there were seven seriously injured and nine slightly injured. In 2020, only one person was slightly injured out of seven accidents.
Significant decline in Upper Austria
In terms of the number of incidents, Lower Austria is well ahead of Styria and Upper Austria. The fewest wrong-way drivers were counted in Vienna. Lower Austria, Styria, Tyrol, Carinthia, Burgenland and Vienna recorded an overall increase in reports of wrong-way drivers. In Upper Austria, Salzburg and Vorarlberg their number fell, most clearly in absolute numbers in Upper Austria.
The southern autobahn (A2) was also the autobahn with the most wrong-way drivers in 2021 (61 reports). In relation to the overall length, according to the Ö3 statistics, the most wrong-way drivers were on the Murtal expressway (S36) in Styria. The S6 (Semmering expressway) in the Styrian section was by far the section of the autobahn with the most reports (24).
The most frequent reports – 44 in total – were received in August. In January, during a hard corona lockdown, the fewest were counted with 24 wrong-way drivers. Most wrong-way drivers were on the road on Sundays, and in 2021 there were generally more wrong-way drivers on weekends than on weekdays. The lowest risk is in the morning (6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), most drivers become wrong-way drivers in the evening hours, especially between 9:00 p.m. and midnight. A large accumulation between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. (26 reports) was unusual.
November 20, 2021 set the daily record with six wrong-way drivers. A total of eight wrong-way drivers were on the road on the weekend of October 9th and 10th. Incidentally, the highest number of reports since 1994 was 550 in 2004.
Source: Nachrichten
