2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
The number of road deaths fell sharply last year. The age groups of young people and senior citizens over 65 are still most affected.
In 2012, 3,600 people died in road accidents. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this is the lowest number since 1950 and a decrease of 10.2 percent compared to 2011. 4009 people died at the time.
Risk decreased most in children
The number of children under the age of 15 killed in traffic fell by 15.1 percent to 73 compared to the previous year. The risk for children of dying in traffic was therefore seven children per million inhabitants in 2012. In the last 20 years, the risk of death in road traffic, measured by the respective share of the population, has fallen the most for children (–81.3 percent).
Also the number of road casualtiesamong young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 has decreased: it fell by 17.1 percent to 611. Your risk has decreased by 71.5 percent over the past 20 years. Nevertheless, the 18 to 24 year olds were still by far the most vulnerable in 2012. In this age group there are 92 fatalities per million inhabitants, in the total population in Germany there are 44 deaths per million inhabitants.
Most fatalities on rural roads outside built-up areas
In the case of seniors aged 65 and over, the number of fatalities has increased nominally compared to 2011 with a decrease of 4.8 percent to 994 people. With 59 senior citizens killed per million inhabitants, this age group still has the second highest risk of falling victim to road traffic. Overall, the proportion of senior citizens among the fatalities has risen. In 1992, every sixth road fatality was older than 65, last year it was every fourth.
According to Destatis, most of the fatalities are on rural roads. In 2012 it was almost 60 percent of all road users killed. 387 people died on the autobahn, that is 10.8 percent of all road deaths. Compared to the previous year, the number of fatalities fell the most. (SP-X)
