Injuries rise as road crashes increase in Upper Austria
Friday 13th November 2026 on 12:15 in
Austria
Road crashes involving injuries rose by 6.6 percent in Upper Austria in the first half of 2026, with 3,285 recorded from January to June, ORF reported, citing Statistics Austria. The number of people killed fell from 33 to 30.
Upper Austria had the fourth-largest increase among Austria’s states, behind Lower Austria, Burgenland and Vorarlberg. The rise was well above the national increase of 2.5 percent.
Linz recorded the most crashes in the state, with 496, leaving 580 people injured and four dead. Braunau district had 280 crashes, with 373 people injured and three killed. Three people were also killed in each of the districts of Gmunden, Grieskirchen and Wels-Land. Linz-Land recorded 415 injuries.
Two-wheel injuries reach a record
Across Austria, nearly 18,000 crashes involving injuries were recorded. More than 22,300 people were injured and 165 were killed. More than 5,000 cyclists and over 2,100 motorcyclists were injured or killed, the highest first-half totals for either group since digital records began in 1992. About 1,250 people on e-scooters were also injured or killed. Nearly one in three cyclists injured or killed was riding an electric bicycle.
Children and teenagers accounted for a large share of e-scooter casualties. Of the 1,264 e-scooter riders injured or killed, 435 were aged 10 to 15, and 84 percent of them were boys.
A helmet requirement for e-scooter riders under 16 took effect on May 1. Among children and teenagers involved in crashes, helmet use rose from 11 percent in May and June 2025 to 47 percent in the same months this year. Despite a ban, also introduced in May, on carrying passengers on e-scooters, passengers were involved in six percent of crashes in May and June.
Burgenland recorded Austria’s largest increase in injury crashes, at 7.8 percent, followed by Lower Austria at 7 percent. Vorarlberg reported 1,017 such crashes, its highest total since digital records began in 1992 and the first time it exceeded 1,000 in a first half of the year.