Corona and its side effects first swept the streets in the southern district empty, then made them overcrowded.
The accident statistics for 2020, an exceptional year in every respect, were eagerly awaited.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
- Ultimately, according to Lars Werber, traffic expert with the Tölz police, the numbers are within the normal range of fluctuations.
“We have not recorded any extreme outliers,” summarizes Werner.
Of course, every accident and every traffic fatality is one too many.
Overall, however, from a police point of view, one can be "satisfied" with the statistics.
Because the total number of accidents in the area of responsibility of the Bad Tölz inspection (including Kochel police) has decreased by 13.7 percent compared to the previous year.
In 2019 there were 1,557 accidents on the roads in the southern district, in 2020 there were still 1,344.
The big but: 231 people were slightly injured and 87 seriously injured - an increase of 12.1 and 8.8 percent respectively compared to the previous year.
The significant decrease in the number of traffic fatalities in the inspection area from 11 to 6 is encouraging - a decrease of 45.5 percent.
A closer look at the six fatal accidents reveals very different circumstances - so that it is hardly possible to read a general tendency that could indicate special police preventive measures or structural interventions.
Rather, according to Lars Werner, individual causes or just bad luck played a role.
In the first fatal accident of the year, a motorcyclist (64) got into the opposite lane due to a driving error on the state road 2072 at the entrance to Jachenau on February 17 and collided with a car.
The only fatal bicycle accident occurred on April 25th in Gaißach, where a 23-year-old mountain biker was drunk on a forest path in Steinbachtal and fell into a creek bed without a helmet.
A 28-year-old was killed on June 21 when he got off the B 13 without a driver's license, under the influence of alcohol and in an unauthorized vehicle in the Gaißach municipal area and drove into a group of trees.
A 94-year-old man who died in an accident on August 8 near Reichersbeuern also drove into a tree.
According to Werner, he had probably suffered a heart attack while driving.
A 58-year-old had a great misfortune on October 21 on the B 11 in Kochel: A tree fell on his car during a foehn storm - the only vehicle far and wide early in the morning.
Finally, on December 10th, an 81-year-old woman got onto the left lane on the B 472 near Reichersbeuern for an unknown cause and died in a collision with oncoming traffic.
Werner sees a connection with the circumstances of the Corona year in the significant increase in bicycle accidents.
Their number rose in the inspection area from 74 to 110, i.e. by 48.6 percent.
Lockdown and travel restrictions meant that many people were looking for a balance in cycling - but for Werner this is not the only reason for the increased number of accidents.
"We have had an increase in all of the past few years." The number of accidents with pedelecs in particular is increasing continuously - parallel to the "skyrocketing sales figures".
Pure pleasure rides on motorbikes were temporarily prohibited during lockdowns.
Nevertheless, the number of motorcycle accidents on the Kesselberg rose significantly from 16 to 22. According to Werner, 17 people were injured, compared to 13 in the previous year.
"This means that the numbers are back in the range of previous years," said the policeman.
2019 was more of an outlier on the downside.
Overall, in the Corona year, people either made particularly fast progress on the district roads or only at a snail's pace - because the roads were either unusually free or unusually congested.
Lars Werner confirms these phenomena from his own experience as a driver - but they are not reflected in the accident statistics.
“We didn't have a disproportionate problem with speeding accidents,” said the traffic expert.
"And traffic jams are annoying, but not a particular risk of accidents."
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