"Don't you have anything better to do?" - police officers are repeatedly confronted with this rhetorical question when they check road users and their speed, for example, introduced Police President Markus Röhrl on Monday, 18 March 2024.
The fact that this question can be answered with a clear no was demonstrated by a video from the Ministry of the Interior of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which was presented to media representatives shortly afterwards.
In it, people had their say whose lives had been turned upside down by traffic accidents. Because a loved one was killed. Or because they themselves were responsible for the death of a person. Their stories showed that #LIFE, the motto of the NRW police strategy for more safety on the roads, is more than just a hashtag. #LIFE is what all police efforts to reduce the number of serious road accidents are about.
#LIFE is also what all road users should be guided by. By taking responsibility, acting responsibly in traffic and thus protecting lives.
Authorities want to take stronger action against alcohol and drugs in road traffic
According to this, 2023 was an ambivalent year on the roads of Wuppertal, Remscheid and Solingen. The number of road deaths fell to "only" six (2022: 9). "However, alcohol was involved in half of the fatal accidents alone," explained Falko Lotz, Head of the Traffic Directorate at the Wuppertal Police Department. In addition, the number of accidents involving personal injury caused by alcohol and other intoxicants also increased significantly: the number of accidents involving alcohol was 75 (2022: 52) and the number of accidents involving other intoxicants even doubled to 34 (2022: 17).
"Alcohol and drugs pose a deadly danger in road traffic," Police Chief Markus Röhrl made clear and announced that this danger - also with a view to the possible legalization of cannabis - would be targeted even more in future during checks.
Lack of driving skills leads to more pedelec and e-scooter accidents
Notably, three pedestrians were among the six road deaths in 2023. In addition, there were 376 pedestrian accidents last year, 48 more than in the previous year (328). That is an increase of 14.6 percent. "How can we also prevent misconduct by pedestrians through repression and prevention? Because even where pedestrians do something wrong, they end up becoming victims", says Markus Röhrl.
A significant increase in the number of accidents can also be seen with the relatively new means of transportation of pedelec and e-scooter riders. The number of pedelec riders involved in accidents rose from 118 in 2022 to 154 in 2023 (+36) and the number of e-scooter riders was 60, 20 more than in the previous year. "We attribute this to a lack of driving skills. We are tackling this with our prevention services," explained Head of Directorate Falko Lotz, referring among other things to the highly popular pedelec training offered by Traffic Accident Prevention.
Probability of being involved in an accident remains low
The total number of traffic accidents in the Bergisch city-triangle rose by 2.6 percent compared to 2022 to 24,8221. The number of people involved in traffic accidents was similar: Compared to the previous year, there were 6.1 percent more last year.
On the positive side, however, in addition to the lower number of fatalities in 2023, fewer people were seriously injured in accidents. The number fell by 2.1 percent to 275. "And that is precisely the aim of our work. There will always be road accidents with material damage. But we want to prevent serious injuries or even fatalities on the roads," says Falko Lotz.
And the accident frequency rate - i.e. the number of people involved in accidents per 100,000 inhabitants - is also impressive. At 329, it was slightly higher than in 2022 (310). In an NRW comparison of the 47 district police authorities, however, the Wuppertal district police authority ranks 7th and, as a metropolitan region in which the probability of being involved in a traffic accident is generally higher than in rural areas, holds one of the top positions.
The detailed 2023 annual report and the figures for previous years can be found in the download area on the right-hand side.
In addition, the Ministry of the Interior of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia also presented the state-wide statistics. All figures and a media package can be found here: