19 deaths in 2023

Open country roads particularly dangerous for bikers

A 53-year-old died in Vorderweißenbach on Sunday.(Bild: TEAM FOTOKERSCHI / MARTIN SCHARINGER)

A motorcyclist died in a head-on crash at the weekend. There were a total of five accidents involving two-wheelers on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases, as 19 people died on motorcycles in Upper Austria last year alone - most of them on open country roads.

It was an overtaking maneuver on a bend that cost the life of a 53-year-old Lower Austrian in the municipality of Vorderweißenbach on Sunday. He crashed head-on into an oncoming car.

Although it was the only fatal accident, it was not the only two-wheeler accident this weekend: Motorcyclists were involved and injured in a total of five collisions. The majority of these happened on country roads.

Traveling too fast
This is where the danger for motorcyclists lurks particularly frequently in Upper Austria, as emphasized by the Austrian Transport Club (VCÖ): "18 of the 19 motorcyclists killed last year were involved in accidents on rural roads, eight of which were caused by inappropriate speed and four by overtaking." Only in Styria (23) were more bikers killed than in Upper Austria.

Male and young
The statistics are quite one-sided when it comes to gender distribution: all fatalities were male. Nine of the victims were between 21 and 36 years old, six were between 47 and 58 years old and four were 60 or older. The VCÖ advises: keep to the speed limit, avoid risky overtaking maneuvers and always pay attention.