School start in 2025: Police warn of increasing accidents on the way to school!

School start in 2025: Police warn of increasing accidents on the way to school!

The start of the school year is just around the corner, and with it the journey to school for thousands of Munich children. The new school year begins next Tuesday and the police are urging all road users to behave carefully. This year, the prospects for road safety are not the best: in the 2024/2025 school year there were already 86 accidents on the way to school, which corresponds to an increase of 7.5 percent compared to the previous year. Back then there were 80 accidents like that Bavarian police reported.

It is encouraging that there were no fatal accidents on the way to school in the last school year - a positive development that has continued over the last seven years. Nevertheless, the numbers are alarming: a total of 97 students were injured, including 10 seriously. Compared to the previous year, the number of students with minor injuries increased from 90 to 93. The majority of accidents occurred between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., i.e. during peak traffic times around schools.

Let's protect our children!

The high proportion of self-inflicted accidents is particularly worrying: around half of the incidents are due to the behavior of the students. And while the majority of accidents occur on roadways, the remaining accidents occur on bicycle paths and sidewalks. The most frequently injured people are children between the ages of 10 and 13, with cyclists and pedestrians being the main victims. The police are calling on parents to prepare their children for school and to set a good example.

In Austria people are also aware of the problem. Visionary initiatives such as school route security, which has now existed for over 60 years, play a central role. Around 6,000 student and adult guides are active here to help the little ones cross streets safely. These volunteers are mostly young people from the 7th grade onwards who help younger students find their way across dangerous places. Loud KFV There were more than 400 accidents on the way to school in 2024, affecting 451 students.

Education is the key

In order to further increase security, a new digital platform was launched: www.schulwegsicherung.at. This platform provides comprehensive information about securing routes to school and is intended to help parents and students make safer decisions. The importance of school route training is also emphasized. Because good preparation and awareness is the key to preventing accidents, similar to the education that is also provided by the DGUV is required. This organization works with schools to reduce mobility risks and strengthen students' knowledge of the rules.

The responsibility lies with both road users and parents. Over 35 percent of injured children were walking, and the most common causes of accidents are priority injuries and distraction. “Whether new to school or older students, we all have to do our part to ensure road safety,” said the police. It is therefore essential that everyone pays attention and, above all, that parents show their children how to act safely in traffic.