Navigation

Road accidents fall to record lows in 2008

The number of road deaths and people injured on Swiss roads fell significantly last year, with 357 killed and 4,759 sustaining serious injuries.

This content was published on February 24, 2009

The Swiss Council for Accident Prevention said the number of deaths was seven per cent lower than in the previous year and the number of injured was down nine per cent.

It described the figures in a statement on Tuesday as "historically low".

The Council said the positive trend, in particular for pedestrians and motorcyclists, was due to a number of factors, including a 30 kilometres per hour speed limit in built-up areas and technical progress made in some vehicles.

It also cited increased speed checks by the police and the lowering of the permitted level of alcohol in the blood.

However, it noted that a continuing cause of concern was that almost one in four road death victims was a motorcyclist.

In compliance with the JTI standards

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

Contributions under this article have been turned off. You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

Change your password

Do you really want to delete your profile?

Newsletters
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.

Discover our weekly must-reads for free!

Sign up to get our top stories straight into your mailbox.

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.