statistics
More deaths and injuries in traffic accidents
The number of traffic deaths increased in 2023. photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
According to preliminary information, a total of 2,830 people were killed in accidents on German roads last year, 42 more than in 2022. The development among pedestrians is particularly noticeable.
However, the numbers are below pre-Corona levels: compared to 2019, 7.1 percent fewer people sustained fatal injuries and 5.0 percent fewer people were injured. The total number of accidents in 2023 almost exceeded the 2.5 million mark for the first time since 2019; the increase compared to the previous year was 4.5 percent, as the Federal Office announced.
Last year, around 2.2 million accidents with property damage were registered, 5 percent more than the previous year. In addition, there were almost 290,800 accidents with personal injuries, an increase of 0.4 percent. In the pre-Corona year of 2019, the police reported around 2.7 million accidents, including around 300,000 with personal injuries.
High increase in pedestrian fatalities
The Federal Office has more detailed results for the period January to November 2023. There was a sharp increase of 12.3 percent or 40 people in the number of pedestrians killed. In contrast, the number of passengers killed in freight vehicles fell by 13.3 percent or 16 people. The number of cyclists killed was down by 7.6 percent or 35 people.
Pedestrians need to be better protected, demanded the insurer’s head of accident research, Kirstin Zeidler, with a view to the numbers. This is particularly true for the already growing group of older people. Of the pedestrians killed between January and November, 55 percent were at least 65 years old.
Pedestrians usually have accidents while crossing the streets. Zeidler demanded that cities need to create more safety here through more traffic lights, crossings and central islands as well as better visibility. Areas for cycling and pedestrian traffic would have to be separated.
Accident researcher Siegfried Brockmann from the Björn Steiger Foundation also said that cities need to better measure foot traffic and accordingly set up safe ways to cross streets. There is still a lot to do in this area. This also included more 30 km/h zones with appropriate monitoring.
Association accuses politics of failure
The German Transport Club (VCD) spoke of a failure of transport policy. The traffic light government actually set the goal of ensuring that no one gets hurt in traffic anymore, the “Vision Zero”. If this were to be taken seriously, 120 km/h on motorways, 80 km/h on country roads and 30 km/h in urban areas would have to be introduced as the standard speed. The increase in the number of accidents is worrying and makes it clear that the issue of road safety and accident prevention must be put back at the top of the agenda, demanded the TÜV Association.
The German Road Safety Council spoke of a disappointing development and pointed to the high risk of accidents on country roads, to which around 60 percent of those killed have been attributed for years. Speeding 80 km/h on narrow country roads would therefore be an easy-to-implement measure that would immediately save lives. A large part of the country road network is not suitable for speeds of 100 km/h.
In 2023, the most fatalities in road traffic, based on the number of inhabitants, were in Saxony-Anhalt with 59 and in Lower Saxony with 52 per million inhabitants, as the Federal Office announced. The city states of Bremen with 18, Hamburg with 15 and Berlin with 9 people died were well below the national figure of 34 deaths per million inhabitants. This also applies to North Rhine-Westphalia with 24 people killed.
Press release