2024 Again a Flood of Speeding Violations

In 2024, the federal police penalized 6,145,227 speeding violations, either through administrative notices or on-the-spot fines - a slight decrease of 0.2 percent compared to 2023 (6,160,271), the Ministry of the Interior announced on Friday. In cases of particularly severe speeding, the authorities have been able to temporarily confiscate vehicles since March 1 of the previous year. By December 31, the federal police had temporarily confiscated 171 vehicles during on-the-spot stops.

Numerous Penalized Speeding Violations and Alcohol Checks

Federal police officers conducted 1,876,191 alcohol checks nationwide last year, according to the Ministry of the Interior, a decrease of one percent compared to 2023 (1,895,748). The number of related reports dropped from 30,683 in 2023 by 5.9 percent to 28,867 last year. 8,227 drivers were reported for drug use while driving, a decrease of 5.2 percent (2023: 8,676).

In 130,077 cases, the authorities found that the safety distance was not maintained - an increase of 17.1 percent compared to the previous year (111,087). 115,172 drivers were reported for using a phone while driving without a hands-free device or were fined on the spot, a decrease of 11.3 percent compared to 2023.

Fewer Violations of Seat Belt Requirements

Additionally, 97,881 violations of the seatbelt requirement were recorded, 3.2 percent less than the year before. The number of complaints due to inadequate child safety remained almost the same: 7,911 reports in 2024 compared to 7,979 in 2023.

In the heavy traffic sector, 224,464 reports and administrative fines were issued during inspections of trucks and buses (2023: 224,230). Most of these concerned technical defects in the bodywork, brakes, and tires (88,577), followed by non-compliance with statutory driving and rest time regulations in commercial goods and passenger transport (61,805), overloading (32,073), and load securing (5,420). 26,842 trucks and buses were prohibited from continuing their journey due to such defects (2023: 28,198), a decrease of 4.8 percent. Of 7,341 hazardous goods transports inspected, 456 transport units were prohibited from continuing their journey due to imminent danger (2023: 517).

"Those who adhere to the rules protect and remove speeders, tailgaters, and drivers under the influence of alcohol and drugs from traffic," is the task and goal of the task forces, said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP). "The necessary measures will also be consistently implemented this year."

Federal Police Intervenes for State Governments

The Federal Police intervenes in traffic services for the state governments, which are responsible for the enforcement of the entire road police by constitutional law. Data such as "actual" official confiscations of vehicles or traffic offenses that are not reported to the authorities by the Federal Police are therefore not included in the BMI traffic monitoring report.

(APA/Red)

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