Swiss accident prevention group sees federal targets at risk

BFU sees federal targets for accident figures at risk Keystone-SDA

The Swiss government's target for accident figures is at risk, reckons Mario Cavegn, member of the executive board of the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention.

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In an interview with Südostschweiz, he said politicians need to take action.

“In recent years, there have been some rather counterproductive decisions that cause us concern,” said the Head of Road Traffic at the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention in the interview published on Saturday.

Cavegn cited the serving of alcohol at motorway service stations and the lowering of the age limit for motorcyclists. At a meeting with the federal transport commissions, he addressed the council’s view.

The Federal Roads Office’s (Astra) target is a maximum of 100 road deaths and 2,500 serious injuries per year by 2030, he said. Last year, 250 people in Switzerland lost their lives in a road accident. This was the highest figure since 2015, as reported by Astra in March.

+ Most deadly accidents on Swiss roads since 2015

The lowering of the minimum age for 125cc motorbikes had a clear impact: between 2021 and 2023, the number of accidents in the 16 and 17 age group more than doubled compared to the period from 2018 to 2020, as the Astra analysis shows.

The number of serious injuries fell significantly. In 2024, just under 3,800 people were seriously injured in a road accident, around 300 fewer than in the previous year. According to Astra, this was the lowest figure for five years.

+ The hazards of driving on Swiss roads in the 1960s

Transition to automated driving

According to Cavegn, the “density stress” in road traffic has recently increased and will continue to worsen. Nevertheless, it has been possible to continuously reduce the number of accidents. In the interview, he also mentioned measures that give him confidence in this regard, such as emergency braking assistants. We are in a transition phase towards fully automated driving, he said.

However, he emphasised that assistance systems are currently only co-pilots. Astra is working on imparting knowledge about the new systems in driver training. “Everyone needs to know what their vehicle can do and, above all, what it can’t do,” Cavegn said.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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