Hanover is the country's most dangerous city for motorists and other road and pavement users, reports the Berlin-based driver's magazine "Auto/Strassenverkehr". In contrast, Remscheid, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is the safest town in terms of the chances of being involved in a serious accident.
The magazine compared accident statistics in 86 larger towns and cities, finding that Hanover recorded 13.9 accidents entailing death and serious injury per 1,000 registered cars. In Remscheid, the figure was just 5.46, while the national average was found to be 7.82.
Cities under the national average were Stuttgart (7.54 accidents per 1,000 cars), Munich (7.29), both in the south, the eastern city of Gera (7,14) and Wiesbaden in central Germany (5.72). Following Hanover in the accident stakes were Offenbach (12,4), near Frankfurt, Berlin (11.97) and Magdeburg (11.84), in the east. The figures were based on official statistics issued by the vehicle-licensing authority in Flensburg and the Statistical Office in Wiesbaden.
In Hanover, 60 percent of the dead and maimed were cyclists and pedestrians. Yet experts are divided as to why the capital of Lower Saxony state tops the statistics. Apart from the many building sites which went in 1999 in conjunction with this year's World Fair, experts think traffic lights may share at least some of the blame, with frequent red lights causing jams, stress, and accidents.
(dpa)