Since the Corona crisis, it has been safer for road users on German roads than it has been for more than 30 years. "Never since German unification in 1990 have fewer people been killed or injured in traffic accidents from January to June," said the Federal Statistical Office on Friday. In the first half of 2021, 1,128 people died. That was 162 people or 12.6 percent fewer than in the first half of 2020. The number of injuries fell by ten percent to just under 134,800. Because of the pandemic and the associated lockdown, the volume of traffic on the roads was comparatively low.
Overall, the police recorded 2.4 percent fewer accidents in the first six months of this year than in the first half of 2020. The number fell to around 1.05 million, which is also the lowest figure since the unification.
Property damage remained in almost 935,700 accidents (-1.5 percent), while around 109,400 accidents resulted in fatalities or injuries (-9.3 percent).
The risk of a fatal accident is highest in Saxony-Anhalt.
Between January and June, every one million inhabitants in the eastern federal state died on average 27 people in road traffic, in Brandenburg 22 and Lower Saxony 19. Nationwide the value was 14. With four and six respectively, the value in Hamburg and Berlin was well below the national average .