Czech Police Alerting On Senior Road Users
Elderly road users account to 40% of all pedestrians killed in Czech Republic. PHOTO: SENIORS WITHOUT CRASHES
16 OCT - Czech police took part in an awareness-raising campaign to remember the World Day of Senior Citizens, October 1st.
Together with the VIZE 0 Platform and the organizers of the “Seniors Without Crashes” project, they reminded the public of the vulnerability of seniors in road traffic.
Jiří ZlýStatistics
“During 2021, the Police of the Czech Republic investigated a total of 99,332 traffic accidents in which 470 people died, another 1,624 were seriously injured and 20,581 were slightly injured. Of these, there were 12,223 crashes involving senior citizens, in which a total of 120 people died, 15 more than in 2020. Another 296 suffered serious injuries and 2,931 were slightly injured. The share of people aged 64+ in the total number of crash victims was 25.5%, in the case of the seriously injured it was 18.2% and in the case of light injuries it was 14.2%", summarizes col. Jiří Zlý, director of Czech Traffic Police.
Share
“By the end of August 2022, a total of 304 people had died in accidents, of which 79 were senior citizens. The share of seniors in the total number of victims of traffic accidents has been increasing for a long time. While in 2012 it was roughly 19.7%, in 2021 it was yet 25.5%. The same is true of severely injured persons aged 64+, where their share has increased from 15.6 to 18.2% over the past 10 years”, Zlý adds.
Probability
Zuzana PidrmanováIn 2021, seniors were the most likely to die as car drivers. "Last year's collisions took a toll of 120 wasted lives of senior citizens. Seniors died most often as car drivers, followed by pedestrians, car passengers and cyclists. The almost 40% share of seniors in the total number of pedestrians killed and a third share in the total number of victims from among cyclists is striking," clarifies col. Zuzana Pidrmanová from the Police Presidium of the Czech Republic. The share of seniors killed as car drivers and also in the passenger seats of car drivers is also high – it reaches 27%. Compared to 2020, 2 more senior drivers died, 7 more as passengers in passenger cars, 5 more pedestrians, 4 more motorcycle drivers and 1 more bus passenger.
Campaign
Preventive actions and, above all, long-term programs have great potential to increase the safety of seniors on the roads, the Police say. One example is the "Seniors Without Crashes" campaign, organized by Echopix digital agency. The campaign is financed through the Loss Prevention Fund of the Czech Insurers Office. The main goal of the campaign is to familiarize elderly citizens with how to behave safely in road traffic. It targets them not only as drivers but also as passengers, cyclists and pedestrians. The project has reached the finals of the EU-wide Road Safety Awards competition by the European Road Safety Charter. The official announcement of the finalists will take place on October 17 in Brussels.
