The traffic accident statistics for the Weilheim-Schongau district have now been presented at a press conference.
There were significantly fewer accidents - also due to the Corona crisis.
And yet every single one is one too many.
District - Five people died in traffic accidents in the district last year.
“Still five too many, no question about it,” said District Administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiß.
Despite everything, this number is statistically good: "We have never had fewer road deaths," said Robert Kopp, head of the police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South, when he presented the traffic balance for 2020 to the district office.
In the past ten years, 2013 was the sad climax when 19 people were killed.
In terms of the total number of accidents, 2020 was also the best year since 2011: it crashed 3,344 times.
But there is one downer: with 740 injuries, 55 more people were affected than in 2019.
"In a comparison of the last ten years, however, that is the second best value," said Kopp.
All in all, the police chief looks “really satisfied” on the balance sheet. This is partly due to the corona pandemic. Working from home and less long-distance travel "has reduced mobility," said the police chief. However, “there was also a need for excursion traffic”.
Speed is still the main reason for accidents with injuries. “We have to keep an eye out for that,” said Kopp - that's why the Free State recently took part in the “Blitzermarathon” again. In 2020 there were a total of 230 accidents in the district that were attributable to driving too fast - driving fast was only the fourth cause of accidents. But it still led to most of the injuries: 147 people did not survive the clashes unscathed. For comparison: it crashed 756 times after mistakes when turning, turning or reversing. 108 people were injured - and no one was killed. In contrast to excessive speed: this was one of the reasons for two out of five fatal accidents.
The others were too close to a safe distance or the “wrong use of the lane”, as the report says - one of the people involved in the accident had run into oncoming traffic.
Among the five dead were two drivers, two motorcyclists and one moped.
Pedestrians or cyclists did not die in the district in 2020.
A trend that Jochner-Weiß and Kopp would like to keep watching.
Like motorcyclists, these road users are “particularly unprotected” and are therefore at risk of being seriously injured in an accident.
"Wearing a bicycle helmet is therefore very useful," emphasized the police chief.
"Unfortunately, this is neglected mainly by older cyclists." Fortunately, 2020 without any bad consequences.