The number is 7.0% higher than the previous year, but still below the pre-Corona level of 2019
Vienna (OTS) – 396 people died in accidents on Austria’s roads in 2023. That is 7.0% more than in 2022, but for the fourth time since 2019 fewer than 400 deaths in one year. The number of traffic deaths remains below the pre-Corona level in 2019 (416 fatalities). In the long term, this means the fourth lowest number of victims since records began in the Ministry of the Interior in 1950. Fewer people died in road traffic only in the years 2020 with the historic low of 344 traffic deaths, 2021 (362) and 2022 (370).
Every serious traffic accident is associated with a lot of suffering for the victims and their relatives, which is why the greatest possible traffic safety is an important concern for the police and the BMI. In addition to targeted monitoring and control, prevention and awareness-raising are essential tasks of the executive branch to prevent accidents. In light of this outcome, the police will continue to increase their presence in accident-prone or dangerous locations. Precise measures and focus actions are intended to take reckless and unteachable speeders, pushers and drunk drivers out of traffic.
396 traffic deaths are less than a seventh of the number of fatalities in 1972. In this “blackest year” in accident statistics to date, there were 2,948 deaths. The number of registered vehicles in Austria has almost tripled since 1972 from 2.5 million to 7.3 million in 2022. Just over ten years ago (2012), with 531 people killed, there were significantly more than 500 traffic fatalities.
In the federal states
In Burgenland there were 20 traffic deaths last year (2022: 19), in Carinthia 29 (21), in Lower Austria 97 (98), in Upper Austria 73 (80), in Salzburg 36 (19), in Styria 81 (70) , in Tyrol 35 (29), in Vorarlberg 12 (16) and in Vienna 13 (18).
There was an increase in the number of traffic deaths in Burgenland, Carinthia, Salzburg, Styria and Tyrol. Declines were recorded in Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Vorarlberg and Vienna.
Traffic participation
In the fatal traffic accidents in 2023, 178 car occupants lost their lives, 82 motorcyclists (including 22 on light motorcycles), 49 pedestrians, 41 cyclists (including 17 on electric bicycles), 16 truck occupants (including 13 in small trucks) , ten moped drivers, three bus passengers, three drivers of other vehicles, three tractor passengers, two drivers of e-scooters, two motor tricycle drivers, two quad drivers, two drivers of toy and trend sports equipment, one microcar driver, one driver a self-propelled work machine and a driver of a four-wheeled light vehicle.
The number of motorcycle and light motorcycle drivers killed has increased significantly compared to 2022. In 2022, 55 motorcyclists were killed, the lowest number in the last 30 years; the highest figure in this period was 112 killed in 1997 and 2000. The number of truck occupants killed has decreased somewhat.
Main causes of accidents
The probable main causes of fatal traffic accidents are inattention/distraction (27.3 percent), improper driving speed (25.6 percent), priority violation (15.0 percent), overtaking (8.1 percent), and pedestrian misconduct (6.7). percent), cardiac/circulatory failure/acute illnesses while driving (4.2 percent), disregard of commands/bans (3.3 percent), fatigue (3.3 percent), insufficient safety distance (1.4 percent) and technical defects /lack of load securing (0.9 percent). Intoxication was present in 15, or 4.2 percent, of fatal accidents.
Compared to 2022, there were shifts; fewer accidents due to alcohol, heart/circulatory failure/acute illnesses while driving, a lack of safe distance, disregard for commands/bans and priority violations were registered. There were increases in the main causes of pedestrian misbehavior, improper driving speed, overtaking, fatigue and inattention/distraction.
Road types and local area/open land
There were 48 traffic fatalities on motorways and expressways; This means a share of 12.1 percent of all traffic deaths and an increase of 14 or 41.1 percent compared to 2022 (34). The majority of fatal accidents occur on former federal highways (148 fatalities), state highways (121) and other roads (79). 301 road users (76.0 percent) died in the open in 2023, 95 or 24.0 percent in the local area.
Child accidents
7 children aged up to 14 years died in road traffic in 2023, 4 of them as car passengers, 2 as pedestrians, 1 as the driver of a toy and trendy sports device. 13 children had fatal accidents in 2022 and 6 in 2021. Two children aged 6 to 15 died in an accident on the way to school in 2023.
Serious accident on A 5
The most serious accident last year occurred on Saturday, August 12, 2023 at around 7:00 a.m. on the A 5 (Nord Autobahn) in the municipality of Bad Pirawarth, Gänserndorf district, in Lower Austria. When a minibus (car/van) rolled over from the highway onto an agricultural road underneath, four Ukrainian passengers, two of them children, were killed and three others were seriously injured. The victims were on their way south from Poland.
People killed on protective paths, railway crossings, in tunnels and on ghost rides
Eight pedestrians died on a protective path, 14 in 2022. 11 people had fatal accidents on level crossings at railway crossings (2022: 17). There were two deaths in road tunnels in 2023 (2022: 3). Two road users were killed in traffic accidents involving wrong-way drivers in 2023 (2022: 0).
Solo accidents, seat belts, age information and foreign nationals
129 or 35.4 percent of all fatal accidents (364) are solo accidents, meaning only one vehicle was involved in the accident. Of the 178 car occupants who died in an accident, 136 used seat belts and 42 were not wearing a seat belt. More than a third of all traffic fatalities (148 or 37.4 percent) were 60 years or older at the time of the accident, 42 of them (10.6 percent of all those killed) were even older than 80 years. In the 17 to 29 age group, 82 people (20.7 percent of all traffic fatalities) died in traffic accidents last year. 86 or 21.7 percent of the road users killed were non-Austrian citizens; every fifth fatal traffic accident (76 or 20.9 percent) was caused by foreign nationals.
Questions & Contact:
federal Ministry of Internal Affairs
Otmar Bruckner
Traffic service/strategic accident analysis
+43 (0) 59133 982503
Mobil +43 664 81 17 132
Türkenstraße 22, 1090 Vienna, Austria
otmar.bruckner@bmi.gv.at
www.bmi.gv.at
federal Ministry of Internal Affairs
Mag. (FH), Paul Eidenberger
Department I/C/10 – Public Relations
Mobil: +43-(0)664-84 10 129
paul.eidenberger@bmi.gv.at
www.bmi.gv.at