In 2020 there were 16 925 accidents recorded in Prague (-21 % compared to 2019), with 22 casualties (+10 %) and 1 735 persons injured (-16 %). There were 426 accidents involving pedestrians (-23 %) with 7 persons killed (0 %) and 380 injured (-27 %). Pedestrians themselves were responsible for 172 accidents (-37 %), with 1 casulaties (-67 %) and 145 persons injured (-40 %).

The decisive majority of accidents were caused by drivers (16 363 of 16 925 accidents, or 97 %). The main causes of accidents caused by drivers were failure to keep proper distance, which is caused primarily by the nature of urban driving, lack of due care and attention and failure to yield when changing lanes. The number of accidents where alcohol was detected in the culprit was 405 (-6 %).

The basic accident rate trends in 2020 can be characterised by a marked decrease in the number of recorded accidents in comparison with the previous year, an increase in the number of fatalities and persons with serious injuries, and a decline in the number of minor injuries and accidents involving injuries. In general it can be said that in terms of the consequences of accidents, 2020 was highly unfortunate in light of the marked drop in overall accidents. Despite the fall in minor injuries, which with regard for the year-on-year comparison of number of accidents is a matter of course, there was a 30 % increase in the likelihood of an accident having serious or fatal injuries.

Assessing the long-term evolution of recorded accidents in Prague, it follows that from the 1960s through the 1980s, the trend was relatively positive. The number of accidents corresponded to the development of traffic volume, or even increased at a slower rate than traffic volume. In the 1990s the general tendency of development reversed to become quite negative, with traffic accidents starting to increase more rapidly than the volume of traffic. This led to an increase in the risk of accident expressed by the indicator of relative accident rate (the number of accidents per million vehicle kilometres travelled).

Only after 2001 did the number of recorded traffic accidents begin to fall again, despite the ongoing growth of automobile traffic. The relative accident rate has also decreased, by 66 % in 2020 compared to the year 2000. In 2020 the Prague-wide average was 2.5 recorded accidents per million vehicle kilometres travelled.

An interesting indicator is the division of relative accident rate by road type. This breakdown confirms that while the City Ring Road and Prague Outer Ring Road along with the radial roads transport the greatest proportion of traffic volume in Prague, they have a 3 times lower relative accident rate compared to the Prague-wide average.

The provisions of Act No 361/2000 Coll. on Road Traffic and its subsequent amendments have also had an influence on the marked drop in the number of recorded accidents since 2001, having several times changed to obligation to report an accident to the police. Traffic accidents without injury or damage to third party property have only needed to be reported where the material damage clearly exceeds the following amounts:

The overall number of traffic accident injuries has fallen from 3 861 in 2000 to 1 757 in 2020, i.e. by 54 %, while in the same period automobile traffic in Prague has risen 29 %.

Also still positive is a comparison of the long-term trend in the number of injuries to the volume of automobile traffic. Over the past 30 years, automobile traffic in the city has risen to triple 1990 levels (by 195 %), while the number of injuries in traffic accidents has fallen 46 % (from 3 269 injuries in 1990 to 1 757 in 2020), covering all kinds of injury – fatal, serious and minor.

relative accident rate = number of accidents per million VKT (average values, whole road network in Prague)

traffic volume = vehicle kilometers travelled on whole road network in Prague

100 % = 1990 levels

Accidents, injuries and traffic volume in Prague 1961–2020 (whole road network, annual total)

Traffic education is a significant preventive element in terms of traffic safety for children, youth and even adult road users. In 2020 the course of traffic education and all preventive safety programmes was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, just like many other fields. During the period from 11 March to 25 March 2020, primary schools were closed by government order and after schools were opened, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport prohibited instruction off school premises. These regulations prevented traffic education at child traffic playgrounds (CTPs) as well as holding of traffic competitions. Autumn traffic education took place from the start of September until 14 October, when CTPs were once again closed by government order.

In terms of education of children and youth, the main thing is support of child traffic playgrounds, where instruction takes place according to the Thematic Plan of the Ministry of Transport (for grades 4 and 5), as well as familiarisation with traffic education for other years of primary and also nursery schools. Over the past year, approximately 22 000 pupils underwent organised traffic education at Prague‘s traffic playgrounds, of those 7 976 completed traffic education under the Thematic Plan of the Czech Ministry of Transport. This instruction was only possible during the time that the Ministry of Education had not ordered remote learning for pupils.

In other years, a whole range of traffic education programmes take place with the goal of helping increase the effectiveness of traffic education at schools, but these could not be realised to the necessary extent due to the ordered safety measures related to COVID-19. During the period when the restrictions were eased, a „Traffic Education Day for Pedestrians and Cyclists“ was held on the premises of the Czech Police Museum, which takes place every year as part of the European Mobility Week. Several performances of black light theatre on traffic safety topics were also played for primary school children. 2020 was wrapped up with a skill ride for car drivers, which took place in cooperation with the Prague Autoclub.

Another element of traffic education is providing the driver training that every employer is required to ensure within the meaning of the Labour Code for employees that drive a work or personal motor vehicle of up to 3.5 t while carrying out their work. In 2020, 721 people underwent this training.

In 2020, a total of CZK 95.4 million was spent under the BESIP (road traffic safety) budget on implementing measures to increase safety on the City of Prague road network. This included funds earmarked for minor structural modifications, modifications to traffic markings, installation of traffic devices and preventive programmes. Significant modifications were made independent of investment drives and road maintenance.

An amount of CZK 93.4 million was drawn from the City of Prague budget for capital expenditures (construction of structural speed humps, extra lighting at pedestrian crossings and other primarily structural measures). Other non-structural safety measures, in particular by schools and pedestrian crossings (modifications to pedestrian crossings including carriageway surface roughening, assembled traffic humps, adjusting signage, crash barriers, posts and railings, information on current speed), were realised under current expenditures at a cost of CZK 2.0 million.

Some of the funding for 2020 was used to cover costs associated with producing and discussing project documentation.

Dividing island at Vídeňská street

Dividing island at Wassermannova street