Fewer School Route Accidents 2024 in Austria

In Eastern Austria, school starts again in one and a half weeks. The mobility organization VCÖ advises parents of children up to the age of twelve to start practicing the route to the educational institution now. Especially for school beginners, it is important to determine the best school route and to walk it together more often during the holidays. Last year, the number of school route accidents decreased by seven percent, according to the VCÖ.

No Fatal School Route Accident

Particularly pleasing: For the first time since 2020, there was no fatal traffic accident on the school route. The school route is an important opportunity for children to gain competence in proper behavior in traffic and to get a regular dose of healthy exercise, explained the VCÖ. The school route should be viewed from the child's perspective. Obstacles or parked cars, which adults can easily overlook, can obstruct children's view. "That is why it is so important to finally extend the stopping and parking ban in front of pedestrian crossings from five to ten meters," said VCÖ expert Katharina Jaschinsky, calling on the legislator.

After three consecutive years of increasing school route accidents in Austria, there was a significant decline last year, as a current VCÖ analysis based on data from Statistics Austria shows. The number of school route accidents decreased by 31 to 419, with 451 children injured, 43 fewer than in 2023, and there was no fatal school route accident. For comparison: In the pre-Corona year 2019, 580 children were involved in 510 school route accidents in traffic, four of them fatally.

Highest Number in Vienna

In seven of the nine federal states, there were fewer school route accidents last year than in 2023, according to the VCÖ. In Lower Austria, the number of school route accidents increased by 13 from 65 to 78, in Tyrol by six from 41 to 47. The most school route accidents in 2024 occurred in Vienna with 79, just ahead of Lower Austria with 78 and Upper Austria with 73. In Styria, there were 48 traffic accidents on the school route, in Tyrol 47, in Salzburg 33, and in Carinthia and Vorarlberg 29 each. The fewest school route accidents occurred in Burgenland with three.

(APA/Red)

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