The number of illegal races on Bavaria’s streets reached a new high last year. In 2022, the police recorded 605 cases of “private illegal motor vehicle races” with a total of 739 participants across Bavaria. That means an increase of nine percent compared to 2021, when 555 illegal races were counted in Bavaria. In 2020 there were almost as many at 560, in 2019 there were “only” 294.
The statistics include speeders by car and also by motorcycle. Four people died in illegal races last year and 128 were injured. In 2020, seven deaths were counted. “Never before have there been so many ruthless racing competitions in Bavaria,” said SPD MP Markus Rinderspacher. “These full-throttle car races are extremely dangerous,” he emphasized. “Efficient controls and consistent penalties” are needed.
According to the ministry, the police make a fundamental distinction between organized illegal races, often with international routes – with Bavaria usually being used as a transit country – and private illegal races, “which are often arranged at very short notice without much preparation or arise spontaneously when like-minded people meet on the road “.
However, the corresponding criminal offense also includes so-called individual races, in which drivers race recklessly in order to reach the highest possible speed. This also includes drivers who run away from the police while fleeing. According to the ministry, no organized illegal race was recorded in Bavaria in 2022. There is a clear participant profile among participants in private illegal races: “almost exclusively male, in most cases younger than 30 years and owning high-performance vehicles of different brands”.
Prohibited motor vehicle races are traffic offenses that are not included in the police crime statistics. The numbers therefore come from the so-called police process management – a dynamic database whose data changes regularly in the course of investigations. The numbers in the ministry’s most recent response are as of January 15.
A trial is currently underway in Munich for a fatal speeding accident in 2019. A 26-year-old student is accused of illegal car racing and negligent homicide. His passenger died after a serious accident on the Autobahn near Munich. According to the indictment, the two young men’s rented sports car crashed into a tree at more than 300 kilometers per hour.