This year there has been a significant increase in cycling accidents in Austria, moped accidents have tripled. The KFV Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit (KVF) expects the same number of fatalities in traffic accidents as in the previous year by the end of the year. For this year 343 traffic fatalities are forecast, in 2020 there were 344. There are regressions in traffic safety, according to the KFV.
According to the traffic safety experts, the numbers would be significantly higher without lockdowns and the resulting restricted mobility. In addition to a significant increase in bicycle accidents and a tripling of people killed on mopeds, six children have died on Austria’s streets this year; in 2020 there were two.
The KFV demands the implementation of important road safety measures for Austria. The Austrian Road Safety Strategy 2021 to 2030 aims to reduce road deaths by 50 percent by 2030 and 50 percent fewer seriously injured people, and there should no longer be any fatal accidents involving children in road traffic. “In order to achieve these goals, far greater efforts are required for road safety than what has been worked out in recent years,” stated Othmar Thann, Director of the KFV.
For example, “for almost ten years no specific national legal measures for the protection of children in Austrian road traffic have been enacted. Here, speed reductions in accident-risk areas, infrastructure measures to mitigate hazards and the strict punishment of behavior in road traffic that endanger child safety” would be important, “demanded Thann. “It is not enough to rely on the pandemic as the greatest impact on road safety work,” criticized the expert.
In the first half of 2021 alone, 17,585 people were injured in traffic accidents on Austria’s roads. The number of cyclists rose particularly sharply: There were 4,079 injuries here, the highest figure in the past 30 years; in the first half of 2020, for example, the figure was 3,640. By November 21, 45 cyclists had died this year, including 17 e-bikers. In the whole of the previous year there were 40 cyclists killed, in 2019 there were 33. According to KFV, although many efforts are being made to increase cycling per se, there are no measures to increase the safety of these.
There was also a significant increase in the number of fatally injured moped drivers in 2021. The number has tripled: The number of moped drivers killed rose from four in 2020 to twelve this year. The KFV has been demanding the introduction of a practical test for moped drivers for years.
When it comes to traffic accidents, Upper Austria stands out particularly negatively, as it is the federal state with the most traffic fatalities. By November 21st, 83 people had died in accidents in Upper Austria, according to the KFV this is an increase of 41 percent compared to the previous year.