Pensioners in court: Horror accident in Berlin-Mitte costs two lives!

Pensioners in court: Horror accident in Berlin-Mitte costs two lives!

A tragic incident occurred on March 9, 2024 on Leipziger Straße in Berlin-Mitte, which is now being dealt with in court. An 84-year-old man, the suspected cause of the accident, appeared in front of the Tiergarten district court on Wednesday at 9 a.m. He is accused of hitting a 41-year-old mother and her four-year-old son with his car as they tried to cross the street. Both died shortly after the accident, which took place under dramatic circumstances.

The pensioner is said to have been traveling at significantly excessive speed. The charges against him include two counts of negligent homicide, five counts of negligent bodily harm and dangerous interference with traffic. According to the investigation, the senior initially drove into the bus lane, where the speed limit is 30 km/h, and accelerated to at least 70 and possibly even 90 km/h. This high speed caused him to hit the mother and her child sitting in the stroller at a speed of 89 km/h.

The condition after the accident

Five other people sustained injuries and the mother's partner and sister witnessed the tragic incident, leaving them in shock. The family from Belgium was on a short tourist visit to Berlin when the accident occurred. The trial is scheduled to last three days and is expected to end on June 27th.

Accident statistics in Germany

Unfortunately, accidents like this are not an isolated incident. Around 2.5 million road traffic accidents occur in Germany every year, which is due to the increasing traffic density. The German road traffic accident statistics from Federal Statistical Office shows that the majority of accidents cause property damage. However, the number of personal injury accidents has remained at a similar level since the 1950s.

The aim of the EU transport ministers is to implement “Vision Zero”, i.e. to have no more traffic fatalities by 2050. In 2023, 2,839 people died in road traffic in Germany, with a downward trend in traffic deaths having been observed since the 2010s. However, this decline is slowing down, so further measures to improve road safety are required.

Causes of traffic accidents

The most common causes of traffic accidents with personal injuries are insufficient distance, inadequate speed and driving under the influence of alcohol. Of particular concern is the increase in accidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters, which poses a new challenge for road safety. Statistics show that over 15,700 alcohol-related personal injury accidents were recorded in 2023, with 193 deaths and 18,686 injuries.

Tragic events like the one on Leipziger Straße in Berlin-Mitte underline the need to further improve road safety. The existing statistics and findings, for example from Statista and that Federal Statistical Office provided help to develop and implement the necessary measures. It is to be hoped that accidents like this will soon be a thing of the past and such tragedies can be avoided.