Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - Hesse does well in traffic accidents involving children: the number of accident victims is comparatively low. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden on Wednesday, around 22,300 children under the age of 15 were injured in road traffic accidents nationwide last year. However, there are "large regional differences", as the statisticians reported.
In Schleswig-Holstein, for example, children were involved in traffic accidents relatively frequently: 271 children died in accidents for every 100,000 children. The rates were also comparatively high in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (262) and in Brandenburg (256). The lowest values were in Baden-Württemberg with 158, in Rhineland-Palatinate with 162 and in Hesse with 163 casualties per 100,000 children.
The head of accident research at the insurers, Siegfried Brockmann, cannot really explain the regional differences. It may have something to do with the distance that children have to travel to school. In countries with many large cities, the distances are shorter on average and the statistical risk of accidents is therefore lower.
