"Is the only solution"

Number of fatal alcohol-related accidents has tripled

The many police checks in Styria do not seem to be a deterrent.(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart .)

In Styria, the number of fatalities in alcohol-related accidents tripled in the first three quarters of 2024. The number of accidents involving drunk drivers has also increased massively - despite strict penalties and many checks. Why do so many people fail to change their ways? 

The renewed increase in accidents under the influence of alcohol on Styrian roads is shocking! While there were a total of 349 alcohol-related accidents in the first three quarters of 2023, this figure rose to 363 in the same period of 2024 - but this does not even include the Advent market period.

456 people were injured in alcohol-related accidents in the previous year, an increase of almost five percent. The number of fatalities is even worse: by August, nine (!) people had lost their lives, three times more than in 2023. "A truly striking increase", says Klaus Robatsch, Head of the Road Safety Department at the Austrian Road Safety Board (KfV), for whom there is only one solution to effectively prevent this kind of thing.