Serious traffic accident in Vienna: child and man injured!

Serious traffic accident in Vienna: child and man injured!

Vienna is once again experiencing tragic traffic accidents that are suddenly bringing the safety of our roads into focus. On Thursday evening, around 7:30 p.m., an incident in Brigittenau overshadowed the evening mood. A seven-year-old boy wanted to cross Klosterneuburger Straße and overlooked an approaching car. Despite the driver's quick reaction, who was unable to brake in time, the collision occurred. The child was thrown to the ground and suffered serious injuries. The professional rescue team was quickly on the scene and treated the boy on site before he was taken to a hospital, where his condition is now stable courier reported.

Another serious accident also occurred on Thursday at Arthaberplatz in Vienna-Favoriten. Here a man suddenly stepped onto the street between two parked cars and was hit by a tram. Despite the driver's emergency braking, the collision could not be prevented; the man sustained serious injuries. Fortunately, no passenger on the tram was unharmed.

Road safety status

However, there are bright spots when we look at children's road safety. The number of children injured in traffic accidents is declining. According to the Child Accident Atlas from the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt), the conditions have continuously improved in recent decades. And that's no coincidence. Between 2015 and 2019, the BASt carried out a comprehensive analysis project on accidents involving children up to 14 years of age, which also shed light on regional differences. These findings should help to develop targeted and effective road safety measures in order to further improve the situation. More information about this is available here Bast to find.

Particularly in urban areas, there is a higher accident rate among children than pedestrians. In rural areas, however, they are often affected as car passengers. The Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) therefore also relies on prevention and training programs for traffic education. In 2023, for example, 27,235 children had accidents in road traffic, with 44 children losing their lives. These figures illustrate the need for targeted preventive measures to better protect children in traffic.

Prevention and traffic education

The new traffic education programs are aimed at children and parents and use the most modern media. There is, among other things, a campaign with Pumuckl that aims to teach how to cross the street safely and follow the correct traffic rules through informative videos. A variety of events are also offered in daycare centers to promote road safety at an early age. Anyone interested can find information about this at BMDV.

It is important for parents to ensure proper child safety locks in the car. Children up to 12 years old or shorter than 150 cm must be secured in suitable child seats. The alarm bell rings here because while 99.5% of children ride safely, only about one in three seats are installed correctly. This represents a significant security risk.

It remains to be hoped that the tragic incidents of the last few days were not in vain and that a rethinking of road safety will finally occur. The safety of children on our streets should not just be a topic for reports, but requires constant attention and targeted action in our society.