Roads becomes safer as accidents fall

The number of fatal accidents and serious injuries on Swiss roads has dropped to a 60-year low.

There were 357 road fatalities in 2008, seven per cent fewer than in 2007. The number of serious injuries also fell by nine per cent to 4,780, according to figures published by the Federal Statistics Office on Thursday.

Accident figures peaked in the 1970s and have been falling ever since. The numbers from 2008 were last seen in the Second World War. Since then the population has grown from 4.5 million people to 7.7 million, and the number of cars on the road leapt from 63,000 to four million.

Half of those killed or seriously injured in 2008 were cyclists or motorcycle riders. Pedestrians accounted for 14 per cent of serious injuries or deaths.

In car accidents, seatbelts helped reduce the extent of injuries in 2008, with police reporting that 93 per cent of people suffering slight injuries in cars had been wearing them.

swissinfo.ch and agencies