Major road safety improvement identified in Northern Germany

A series of measures carried out in Northern Germany have had a notable effect on improving road safety. The latest data available reveals that in 2012, the number of people killed in road crashes dropped by 17% compared with the previous year for the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Tougher police enforcement on speeding is reckoned to be a major factor in reducing North Rhine-Westphalia’s road fatality rate to 526, compared with 634 in 2011. The police data shows that the tougher enforcemen
January 31, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A series of measures carried out in Northern Germany have had a notable effect on improving road safety. The latest data available reveals that in 2012, the number of people killed in road crashes dropped by 17% compared with the previous year for the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Tougher police enforcement on speeding is reckoned to be a major factor in reducing North Rhine-Westphalia’s road fatality rate to 526, compared with 634 in 2011. The police data shows that the tougher enforcement of speeding reduced those deaths by 32%, leading to 76 fewer deaths than in the previous year. On a similar note, the number of seriously injured people fell by 1,197 to 12,678 (a drop of 8.6 %). And this is 4.1 % less than the previous year. In 2012, 574,151 collisions occurred, a reduction of 0.8 %. Another issue that will now be tackled is with the increase in accidents amongst vulnerable road users and the police will analyse why the number of fatal accidents amongst cyclists increased by 17% during 2012 compared with 2011.

Related Content

  • Improving safety for Europe’s roads revealed by latest data
    May 24, 2013
    A wide variety of road safety measures are being implemented across Europe, and with generally beneficial effects. According to the latest data from the European Commission, road fatalities across the EU dropped 9% for 2012 compared with the previous year. In fact 2012 also saw the lowest numbers of people being killed in road traffic crashes in EU countries since data first began being collated. But country by country statistics show that the number of road deaths still varies greatly across the EU.
    Read More
  • Road safety improving, but vulnerable road users need protection
    January 11, 2013
    Preliminary data from France over the number of fatalities on the road network reveal safety improvements during 2012. The numbers killed dropped by 7-8%, although the final figures for December are not yet available. The preliminary figures suggest that around 3,600-3,700 were killed on French roads in 2012, compared with 3,970 in 2011. This reduction is in line with targets on cutting the death rate and Ministry of the Interior wants to bring the fatality rate to just 2,000 by 2020. This reduction has bee
    Read More
  • Road safety improvements and challenges worldwide
    May 24, 2012
    Road safety is again hitting the headlines worldwide, with new data showing accident reductions being achieved as well as highlighting areas for improvement. Several European nations showed major safety improvements. In Spain, the Home Affairs Office has published encouraging information revealing that the number of fatalities from car accidents fell in 13 out of the country's 17 autonomous regions during 2010. La Rioja region reported a drop of 47%, the best improvement in Spain, while the regions of Astur
    Read More
  • Measures needed to increase awareness of cyclists
    May 4, 2012
    The latest official data shows a continuing improvement in road safety statistics in both France and the UK. However the data also reveals worrying trends in accidents concerning vulnerable road users. Department for Transport figures for 2010 have revealed a 17% drop in road fatalities to 1,850. But 111 pedal cyclists died in 2010, compared with 104 in 2009, with cyclist fatalities in capital London of particular concern. The DfT believes that the severe winter weather, lower traffic in general due to th
    Read More

Highlighted Content