Police Intensify Checks Around Easter Weekend Again

To monitor Easter travel traffic, the police are increasing their focus actions during Holy Week up to and including the Tuesday after Easter. The officers are paying special attention to compliance with the prescribed speed limits and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The aim of the measures is to increase traffic safety and reduce serious accidents – particularly on main traffic routes, in local traffic, and on popular excursion routes.

Over 50,000 Speeding Offenders Around Easter Last Year

According to the Ministry of the Interior's report, exactly 53,180 drivers were cited for speeding during Easter 2024 alone. In 258 cases, the driver's license was temporarily confiscated, and the police seized four vehicles due to extreme speeding violations.

Additionally, there were 303 reports of driving under the influence of alcohol and 76 for drug driving. All those affected were immediately removed from traffic.

Police in Major Operation Over Easter Weekend

For the focus actions around Easter, the executive deploys, among other things, 2,500 patrol vehicles, 400 motorcycles, 100 unmarked cars with video technology, around 1,250 laser measuring devices, and over 1,400 alcohol testing devices. Traffic light radars, distance measuring systems, and moped test stands are also used.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner emphasized the importance of such controls: "The police want to best protect all those who follow the rules on the road. Speeders or tailgaters will be consistently removed from traffic."

2024 Five Deaths in Traffic Accidents Over Easter

Despite the measures, five people lost their lives in traffic accidents during the Easter traffic in 2024. 329 people were injured in a total of 278 accidents with personal injury. This puts the number of traffic fatalities above 2023, where there was only one death. In the years before, the number fluctuated between four (2020–2022) and eight (2019).

A comparison with previous decades, however, shows a clear development: In 1976, 39 people died in road traffic over Easter, in 2004 it was 17. The previous low was reached in the years 2013 and 2023 with only one death each.

(Red)

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