After a return to normality was observed on the district's roads last year, this was also reflected in the accident figures for 2023.
The total number of traffic accidents rose again, with 8420 accidents last year, 337 more than in 2022 (8083).
From a police perspective, however, the decline in accidents involving personal injury is encouraging, which is also reflected in the number of casualties.
But even though 124 fewer people were injured in road accidents, the figure of 973 casualties is still far too high.
Therefore, one of the main tasks of the police is and remains to further reduce this figure through preventive and repressive work.
In 2022, the number of traffic accidents involving bicycles and pedelecs was already a cause for concern. The increase in mobility due to "motorized" bicycles was clearly reflected in the statistics last year in the number of accidents involving this type of traffic.
A slight all-clear can also be given here. The number of accidents involving this group fell, which was also reflected in the number of casualties. At the express request of Minister Reul, preventative work was stepped up in this area in order to raise awareness of the dangers and sensitize people to them.
This year, the focus will once again be on preventative work, starting with the youngest road users and extending to senior citizens, in order to achieve a further reduction in the number of accidents.
In addition, however, the strategy of consistent repressive traffic monitoring will also be pursued further, as the two areas are inextricably linked.
With this in mind, I would like to appeal to all road users that they can contribute to road safety through their own careful and considerate behavior.
The Unna district police will make its contribution to road safety through its work in the areas of traffic prevention and monitoring, so that you always arrive safely at your destination.
Due to various legal bases (*1), statistics are kept on accidents in which people were killed or injured or property damage was caused as a result of driving on public roads and squares. This does not include traffic accidents involving only pedestrians (including skaters), accidents that were not reported to the police and accidents that did not take place on public roads. The results of the official road traffic accident statistics form an essential basis for the findings on accidents and their development. Specifically, the statistics provide data on the number of accidents, those involved, casualties, the causes of accidents and the severity of the consequences of accidents. This makes it possible to draw up a picture of the accident situation and thus to assess the local accident situation. The following is an explanation of terms frequently used in this context:
*1: "Act on Road Traffic Accident Statistics" of June 15, 1990, "First Act to Amend the Road Traffic Accident Statistics Act" of November 23, 1994, "Ordinance on the More Detailed Definition of Serious Accidents with Material Damage within the Meaning of the Road Traffic Accident Statistics Act" of December 21, 1994
The UHZ describes the risk of being involved in a traffic accident and is calculated as the product of the number of accidents and the number 100,000 divided by the population.
The causes of accidents are recorded by the police officers recording the accident according to their assessment. A distinction is made between general causes that can be attributed to external conditions (e.g. slippery roads, fog) and personal misconduct (e.g. failure to give way, inappropriate speed). In unfavorable external conditions, however, high demands are placed on the behavior of road users, so that a correlation of both factors is very often found in the causation of traffic accidents. Up to eight causes of accidents can be specified per accident, including two general causes and three personal causes.
Injured persons include persons (including passengers) who were injured or killed in a traffic accident. A further distinction is made between:
- Fatalities - persons who die within 30 days as a result of the accident
- Seriously injured persons - persons who were immediately admitted to hospital for inpatient treatment and remain there for more than 24 hours
- Slightly injured persons - all other injured persons
The annual maps are used to display accident blackspots. A distinction is made between:
- 1-year map (1 JK) = three traffic accidents with the same cause of accident (turning, overtaking,...) in one year lead to the accident location being depicted as an accident blackspot
- 3-year map "Cyclists/walkers" (3 JK RF) = Five traffic accidents at one location in three years, whereby different causes may be present
- 3-year map "Serious personal injury" (3 JK SP) = Five traffic accidents with serious personal injury (cat. 1 and 2) at one location in three years, whereby different causes may be present