Germany: Road deaths expected to fall in 2023

The number of people dying in accidents on Germany's roads looked set to once again fall in 2023, according to data from Germany's national statistics agency, Destatis, published on Monday.

The country saw a historic low in road deaths in 2021 when there were just 2,562 fatalities.

According to estimates based on data from January to September, the number of people expected to die in road traffic accidents was expected to fall in 2023 from the level in 2022.

How do the figures stack up?

Destatis estimated that the total number of road deaths in 2023 would reach 2,750 for the year, 40 fewer than the previous year.

The figure is above the historic low of 2,562 in 2021, but well below the pre-pandemic level of 3,062.

Traffic on the roads has generally decreased since the COVID-19 lockdown, accident researcher Siegfried Brockmann told the DPA news agency.

This, he said, was because many more people were avoiding commutes by working from home and with video conferences replacing much business travel.

About 360,000 were expected to be injured in road accidents this year, roughly the same as in 2022.

However, Destatis forecast more than 2.5 million crashes and accidents on German roads for the first time since 2019 — about 4% more than in 2022.

Significant fall in fatalities

Destatis figures show a dramatic reduction in the number of road deaths over the past decades.

The agency has been recording road accidents since as long ago as 1952, including both West Germany and the former East Germany.

By the mid-50s, the number of annual road deaths stood at around 14,000, before spiking in 1970 at 21,000.

Since then, the number of road deaths has sunk dramatically, thanks in no small part to changes in the law.

New legislation lowered speed limits on some roads and made it compulsory for drivers to wear seatbelts and motorcyclists to wear helmets. The law was also altered to bring down the legal limit for blood-alcohol content while driving.

Technical safety specifications in vehicles have also dramatically improved throughout the same period.

Edited by: Alex Berry

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