More Traffic Accidents in Heat: Increase by 13 Percent

More than one in four traffic fatalities (28 percent) in 2024 occurred in July and August. This was the highest proportion of traffic fatalities in the summer months since the start of digital records in 1992. In the two months of the previous year, 98 people lost their lives in road traffic accidents in Austria, reported Statistics Austria on Friday in a press release. Significantly more accidents occurred on hot days in 2024, as in previous years.

This was shown by an analysis by Statistics Austria, in which accident data was compared with weather data from Geosphere Austria. Between July and August 2024, there was an average of 141 traffic accidents with personal injury per day. On days with a temperature of 30 degrees or more, there were an average of 152 accidents, on less hot days 135. This results in an accident increase of 13 percent on hot days, calculated Statistics Austria.

Every third traffic fatality was a motorcyclist

It was also noticeable that there was a high proportion of motorcyclists who died in accidents, it was said. In July and August of the previous year, every third traffic fatality was a motorcyclist: 33 people - all were male - lost their lives. In August 2024, even more motorcyclists died in accidents than car occupants. 43 percent of motorcycle accidents in the summer months were single-vehicle accidents. This was the highest value since the start of digital records. In total, there were 1,463 motorcycle accidents in the two months. This is 14 percent more than in 2023 and the most since 2015.

In the first half of 2025, significantly more people lost their lives in traffic accidents in Austria than in the same period of the previous year, as the Austrian Road Safety Board (KFV) announced on Tuesday. According to preliminary data, the number of fatalities on domestic roads increased from 138 to 162. This represents an increase of 17 percent. The ÖAMTC warned of the upcoming accident-prone days at the start of the summer holidays.

(APA/Red)

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