© dpa
The Berlin state government wants to make Berlin's roads safer again. To this end, the Senate has adopted the "Road Safety Programme 2030".
The central goal is to steadily reduce the number of people who die or are seriously injured in road accidents by 2030, as transport senator Ute Bonde (CDU) explained.
In 2024, 55 people died in road accidents in Berlin, compared to 33 in 2023. In previous years, the number fluctuated in this range. According to police data, 24 pedestrians and 11 cyclists were among the 55 fatalities. According to them, the Senate's road safety programme comprises around 60 measures aimed at different road users, from pedestrians to drivers. They range from changes to traffic lights at junctions to more road safety education programmes.
One of a total of seven focal points is on measures to improve cycling safety. As part of the Berlin Cycling Plan, these are to be prioritised for implementation. In addition, educational measures on the subject are to be organised at schools, for example. The aim here is to reduce the number of accidents while at the same time increasing cycling traffic.
The weakest people in road traffic are pedestrians and cyclists, said Bonde - and among the various groups of people, children and senior citizens. A stronger focus must be placed on them. Traffic accidents at junctions should be prevented by changing traffic light circuits, among other things. Ideally, cars should not be in front of cyclists at traffic lights as they are now, but the other way round to reduce the risk of right-turning accidents. Bonde also considers more road safety education to be useful here in order to sensitise people to the dangers.
There are also plans to expand the work of the accident commission, which already analyses why a serious accident has occurred. According to Bonde, the effect of all measures is to be analysed by means of monitoring - if something does not work as hoped, readjustments are planned. The CDU politician said that the road safety programme is not a dead paper, but one that is continuously being worked on. The transport administration will publish an overview of all measures online.