Preliminary results released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday indicate that 1,233 people died in road traffic accidents in Germany during the first half of 2026. This represents a reduction of nine percent, or 122 deaths, compared to the 1,355 fatalities recorded in the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, the number of injured individuals decreased by 4.2 percent compared to the same period last year, totaling 172,000.
Overall, the police registered 1.26 million accidents. This marks an increase of 2.6 percent over H1 2025. Of these, 1.12 million accidents resulted in property damage, an increase of 3.4 percent. The number of accidents involving injuries or fatalities dropped by 3.5 percent, standing at just over 138,000.
When relating these statistics to the population density, the average number of traffic deaths per million inhabitants in Germany during the first six months of 2026 was 15. The highest rates were found in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with 22 deaths per million, followed by Lower Saxony at 21, and Thuringia and Brandenburg both at 19. Conversely, the lowest rates among the area states were observed in Schleswig-Holstein and Hesse, both registering 13 deaths per million, while North Rhine-Westphalia had 12. The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg reported the lowest rates at five and seven deaths per million, respectively.
In the January to June 2026 period, only e-scooter usage resulted in an increase in fatalities, rising by 13 individuals to 28. In contrast, the number of fatalities among car passengers decreased by 20 people to 531. Similarly, the recorded deaths among users of officially licensed vehicles-such as mopeds and motorcycles-fell by 32 people to 216, as did the number of killed pedestrians (-44 people, down to 150) and killed cyclists (-22 people, down to 211).
Regarding causes of accidents, the police recorded 24,900 instances of improper behavior in accidents involving personal injury, mainly related to turns, U-turns, reversing, starting, and entering. Despite a five percent decrease compared to the previous year, this remained the most frequent violation category. The second most common infraction was violating the right-of-way or priority of other road users, with 21,100 cases (-6 percent). Breaches of safe distance were reported nearly 20,000 times (-9 percent), followed by cases of inappropriate speed at 19,800. However, overall instances of speeding showed a four percent increase compared to the first six months of 2025. Alcohol influence was identified as a cause in nearly 6,500 cases, reflecting a nine percent decrease from the previous year.
Statisticians also noted that in almost all age groups, fewer people were injured or killed, with the exception of children and adolescents. For children under 15, the number of injuries or deaths increased by approximately 450, reaching 14,900. For adolescents aged 15 to 17, the number increased by nearly 390 people to almost 9,900. The majority of children under 15 were injured or killed while cycling (5,100 children, a 4 percent increase), while adolescents aged 15 to 17 were most commonly involved using e-scooters (2,076, a 70 percent increase compared to the previous year).
