AUSTRIA: Elderly under higher road accident risk than kids

. VIENNA, Austria / Austrian Times / March 25, 2009 Pensioners are at higher risk of being involved in a traffic accident than young people, according to new research. Austrians older than 65 years of age have a 16-per-cent higher risk of becoming involved in a traffic accident than young people and the death rate among older drivers is significantly higher than among older pedestrians, according to a study by insurance group Allianz presented yesterday (Tues). The study also found older Austrians were most likely to be involved in traffic accidents in inner-city urban areas. In Europe as a whole, 8,000 seniors die annually in traffic accidents, according to the study. The UK, Sweden and Germany were the safest countries for old people, while the Baltic states, Poland and Greece the most-dangerous. Older Austrians are also among those injured or killed in hit-and-run traffic accidents. Austrian car club ÖAMTC recently reported the number of hit-and-run traffic accidents in Austria had been rising. The club said the number of such accidents had risen by five per cent from 1,969 in 2006 to 2,062 in 2007. The full total for 2008 hasn’t been released, but there were 1,581 between January and October last year. The club added the number of deaths in such accidents had risen to 12 during the first ten months of 2008 from eight in 2007. ÖAMTC traffic psychologist Marion Seidenberger said anxiety, stress and alcohol were the main reasons some drivers fled from the scene of an accident. Seidenberger said: "How a driver involved in an accident reacts can have life-and-death consequences for a victim." She noted leaving the scene of an accident was not a minor offence and people convicted of doing so could be sentenced to up to three years’ imprisonment. Hit-and-run accidents are only part of the problem of traffic safety in Austria, and no one is immune to becoming a victim, including children. Nine children are injured daily in traffic accidents in Austria, according to the Austrian Traffic Club (VCÖ). VCÖ employee Martin Blum said: "There is no reason for satisfaction. Ten children were killed and 2,866 injured in the 2,624 traffic accidents that occurred in the first ten months of 2008. The risk of accidents involving children remains too high." Blum added that 40 per cent of children injured in traffic accidents were passengers in cars. "Of course, it is a given that drivers of cars with children as passengers should drive more defensively and attentively. Experience shows, unfortunately, that has not been the case," he said. VCÖ is also calling for more pavements and zones of restricted traffic in urban areas, where 75 per cent of traffic accidents occur, and for traffic planning that would make roads and streets safer for children. Austrian Times Copyright: © AN News and Pictures