Austria

The overall target of the KFV podcast is to provide important and usefull tips for people who care about their personal safety and the well-being of their loved ones in the everyday life.

In each episode of the KFV podcast, two KFV experts talk for around 20 minutes about a topic from everyday life: about current issues of safe road traffic as well as accident-free relaxation during sport and exercise in nature, but also about the pitfalls of getting older as well as the turbulent life with children and teenagers.

With life experience, specialist knowledge and a good dose of humour, both moderators provide important tips and back ground information about accident risks, accident occurrence and accident prevention.

Here is a little taster of the content of the first three episodes published in March 2023, April 2023 and May 2023:


Episode 1: ‘L17: the best route to a driving licence?’

L17 is currently the most comprehensive driver training course on the way to a B driving licence. But driving the first 3,000 kilometres with your own child at the wheel can be nerve-wracking. Is the effort, courage and extra work really worth it?

On air: Monday, 11 March 2023

Episode 2: ‘Starting the motorbike season: why are masking effects life-threatening and ellipses life-saving?’

Motorcycling is back in fashion among the 40-plus generation. Since 2000, the number of motorbikes in Austria has more than doubled. But the streamlined silhouette is also the greatest danger: single-track bikes are virtually invisible in many traffic situations. How can motorcycling remain a safe pleasure?

On air: Monday, 17 April 2023


Episode 3: ‘Children & water: fascination, pleasure, risk. How to ensure water fun - with safety!’

Children and water - that means fun, but it's also a risky combination. For small children, paddling pools just a few centimetres deep can be disastrous if left unattended. What are the best safety measures for swimming pools, garden ponds and the like?

On Air: Monday, 15th May 2023

Since March 2023 the KFV Podcast has been published with a new episode once a month.

Traditional driving license training often relies on printed books and passive learning methods, leading to a lack of engagement and incomplete comprehension of critical road safety concepts. Young learners, in particular, benefit from interactive and digital learning experiences. The Austrian Road Safety Board (KFV) recognized this gap and developed the mobile and web app "Yarrive" to enhance road safety education through a modern, interactive, and gamified approach. The objective is to shift from rote memorization to true understanding, ultimately improving driver competence and road safety.

According to traffic accident statistics in Austria, distraction is the main cause of accidents for around a third of accidents. The long-term theme of the State of Styria / Traffic Department entitled “Augen auf die Straße - Attention on the Road” is aimed at all road users and would like to point out the risk of distraction in road traffic.
We, the GROSSE SCHÜTZEN KLEINE association, have now developed special projects for children with the aim of:
*that they are aware of how important attention is and how dangerous distraction can be in traffic
*that no one can be 100 percent attentive all the time
*that they can also recognize whether the other road user is paying attention and, in an emergency, can prevent an accident with their own forgiving attention

In Vienna most parents are afraid to cycle with their kids on the streets because of the lack of proper and continuous infrastructure for bikes. This degenerates the ability of children in Vienna generally reaching an all time low of 17% of children taking a biking license and having over 50% of them fail in the exam due to lack of skill and practical knowledge about road behavior. This further decreases the biking competency of children in secondary school as they don’t have any motivation whatsoever to actually learn biking at a later age. With only 20 km per year of safe biking infrastructure generated and a need for over 300km this creates a gap of centuries while parents wait for safe infrastructure during which biking competencies further deteriorate. the bikebus (Bicibus) provides a method to engage children at the right age to motivate them for biking and educates parents by practicing and by positive example to actually provide a learning opportunity to children, when they actually are prone to learn biking seriously (5-10) This prepares their technical skills so they are ready, when their actual physiology is ready to safely travel through urban traffic alone even without safe infrastructure yet in place.

The danger for children in traffic increases significantly in darkness or poor visibility. Children are often overlooked in such conditions because their small size and usually dark clothing make them difficult for drivers to see. Without adequate lighting or reflective materials, they are especially at risk, as they are noticed much later than adults. Additionally, children often react impulsively and unpredictably in traffic, which increases the risk of accidents.
It is particularly critical that children have difficulty judging distances and the speed of vehicles. This ability is further impaired in the dark. Drivers also have limited visibility in the dark and need more time to react to unexpected obstacles. Glare from street lighting, oncoming vehicles, or bad weather exacerbates the situation.
Another problem is that children often do not realize that they are harder to see in poor lighting conditions. They rely on drivers always seeing and stopping for them. This misjudgment can be dangerous. Therefore, it is important that children learn early on how to improve their visibility in traffic.

Young people are very sensitive to a wide range of environmental stimuli. For this reason, they also find it difficult to concentrate exclusively on the driving task. This is reflected, among other things, in increased distraction by smartphones and other secondary activities while driving.
Around a third of all accidents in Austria are caused by distraction. Distraction is also the number one cause of accidents among young road users aged 15 to 19.
For this reason, the Austrian Road Safety Board (KFV) developed a workshop with a focus on grades 9 to 13, which deals with distraction in road traffic in two teaching units. The workshop content focuses on the attitude and knowledge level of young drivers and passengers.
The workshop aims to raise awareness that distraction while driving can increase the accident risk. Furthermore, participants should gain appropriate prevention strategies.

Motorcycle crashes are different. They follow different patterns to any other mode. They have different reasons, and they are by far more difficult to address. Motorcycle riders are considered vulnerable road users, and even those who wear good protective clothing are much more exposed to risk than road users in a protective cage or moving at lower speeds. Fatalities among motorcycle users are decreasing, but at a slower rate and with a lag when compared to car drivers. Hence, their share within total traffic fatalities has increased in recent years (currently at 16% in Europe).

Motorcycles are an important solution to urban congestion, they are environmentally friendly compared to cars carrying just one person, and they are an important economic factor for tourism.

Measures in the area of education are important and can be effective but would take decades to develop their full potential. Technological measures such as ABS are very effective but are slow to penetrate the market. It is particularly difficult to convince riders to use protective equipment. In contrast, infrastructural measures offer an opportunity for immediate impact.

The SWARCO Lighthouse Project Young Mobility Ambassadors Program was launched in Austria in January 2024 with the aim to become a long-term project with a positive impact on society, focusing on the most vulnerable group in traffic - young people aged 14 to 19. According to statistics, distraction and risk-taking are the main causes of accidents among this group. With this project, we want to motivate young people to actively think about how they can move intelligently and safely in our rapidly changing world of mobility. The project consists of 3 pillars: Road Safety Survey, SWARCO Award and Educational Materials.

Austria continues to be an absolute negative example when it comes to speeding offences. The effects of speeding and excessive speed on road safety can be clearly seen in the accident statistics: Inappropriate speed was the main cause of more than a quarter of all fatal accidents between 2017 and 2021. Particularly high speeding offences have an enormous impact on the risk of accidents and the severity of injuries. Speeding drivers are convinced that they have their car under control even at high speeds.