Tragic Weekend on Czech Roads: Seven People Killed

Seven people died on Czech roads over the weekend, according to police figures as of 4 p.m. on Sunday. The fatal accidents occurred across several regions of the country, from the Ústí nad Labem Region to the Jihlava area.

Two of Saturday's fatalities occurred in the Ústí Region — a crash near Litvínov, in the Most district, also left four people injured, two of them seriously. Another victim was a 42-year-old quad bike rider who died in a crash near the village of Suchdol in the Prostějov area. A collision near Nová Ves in the Chrudim district also proved fatal: a drunk driver ran his car into a ditch, killing the passenger in the back seat.

On Sunday morning in Ostrava, an Audi driven by a man nearly 80 years old hit a 95-year-old pedestrian at a crosswalk — the elderly man died at the scene. Another life was lost overnight when passers-by found a motorcyclist lying motionless by the road between the villages of Zděnkov and Nová Říše in the Jihlava region.

Why So Many Casualties

"Behind every case are real people and their mistakes — above all, excessive speed that doesn't match road conditions or a driver's own abilities," said road safety expert Roman Budský from the Vize 0 (Vision Zero) platform, which campaigns for safer roads.

According to him, drivers often travel "without any safety margin" — failing to anticipate the mistakes of other road users and not keeping a safe following distance. Many accidents, the expert believes, could be avoided if drivers followed the principles of defensive driving.

Police have previously noted that the summer months are the deadliest time of year on the roads. Budský says this isn't just down to heavier traffic, but also to the fact that pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists — the most vulnerable road users — are simply out and about more often in summer.

"Motorcyclists often take real risks — for example, overtaking in the hope that oncoming cars will yield. But that doesn't always happen. Car drivers also tend to follow each other too closely, so if the vehicle ahead brakes suddenly, a crash follows," the expert explained, describing the dangerous situations that arise on Czech roads.

A similar picture emerged two weeks earlier, when eight people died on the roads between Friday and Sunday. The same number of fatalities was recorded over the weekend spanning the end of July and the start of August.

Read also: 9 best cycling routes around Prague: from the Vltava embankments to Karlštejn Castle

Source: novinky.cz