Alarming numbers: Children in the roads of Bavaria are very endangered!

Alarming numbers: Children in the roads of Bavaria are very endangered!

Mönchengladbach, Deutschland - In 2024, Bayern recorded an increase in traffic accidents with children aged 0 to 13 years. With 3,460 accidents, the number of incidents increased by 3 % compared to 2023, when 3,365 accidents were reported. These alarming statistics were recently announced by the Bavarian police and Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, who points out that children are unable to correctly assess dangers in road traffic. It is worrying that nine children died in traffic accidents, while the number of injured children rose to 3,632, which is also an increase of 3 %.

traffic safety of children

A comprehensive look at the traffic safety of children in Germany shows that in 2023 a total of 27,235 children crashed in road traffic. Of these, 44 children, including 13 as a passenger in cars, 22 as pedestrians and 4 as cyclists. These numbers illustrate the need to take early prevention measures. The Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV) supports various programs to increase traffic safety for children.

An example of this is the new traffic education campaign with Pumuckl, which provides ten informative videos for children and parents. Topics of this campaign include crossing the street, turning and basic traffic rules. In addition, the “Child and Transport” program of the German Road Safety Council (DVR) is offered, which supports parents in day care centers in traffic education.

school routes and child locking

In Germany, an average of a child is injured in a traffic accident every 20 minutes. Children between the ages of 6 and 14 are particularly affected, and from Monday to Friday between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. they most often crash on their way to school. According to a data analysis, 36 % of the victorious children wore a bike, 34 % were in the car and 22 % went on foot. It is therefore crucial that corresponding school plans are created to guarantee children safe ways to school.

Another central topic is child locking in the car. Children who are younger than 12 years or less than 150 cm must be secured in suitable child seats. Although 99.5 % of the children are transported correctly in the car, only 35 % are actually properly secured. This discrepancy makes it clear how important information and practices are to improve traffic safety.

The measures initiated in Bavaria, such as the shortening of the waiting times at traffic lights and the extension of the green phases, should help reduce the number of accidents and, above all, to ensure the safety of children in road traffic. This combination of increased sensitivity of drivers and targeted traffic measures could help reduce the dangers for children in road traffic.