Status: 08/31/2022 11:52 a.m
According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 22,300 children were involved in road accidents in 2021. That was 0.8 percent less than in the previous year. One reason for the decline may have been the temporary school closures during the pandemic.
The number of children involved in road accidents is declining in 2021 and thus in the second year of the corona pandemic. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, around 22,300 under-15s were injured in traffic accidents in 2021. That was 0.8 percent less than in the previous year – and less than at any time since reunification.
On average, however, a child is still injured or killed in such an accident every 24 minutes. In addition, the number of children killed rose from 48 in the previous year to 49. According to the statisticians, one reason for the low is likely to be the temporary closure of schools and leisure facilities due to the pandemic. Many extracurricular activities and family trips have also been cancelled.
In the lockdown months of January and February last year, 1,429 children were involved in traffic accidents – and thus significantly fewer children than in the comparable months of previous years. On average from 2016 to 2020, 3,200 children were injured, more than twice as many in the same period.
The way to school as the highest accident risk
According to the statistical office, the highest risk of accidents is on the way to school: children between the ages of six and 15 have an accident particularly frequently between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Monday to Friday. At this time, children are usually on their way to school. During this time, twelve percent of the 17,500 children involved in road traffic accidents were injured or killed last year. In the following hours until 1 p.m., the number of accidents is said to be low. They then rise again significantly and reach the second highest value between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. with a share of ten percent.
At 38 percent, most of the children who had a traffic accident in 2021 were cycling. 33 percent were in a car and 21 percent were walking when the accidents happened.