Shock accident in Waidhofen: 11-year-old seriously injured on a bike ride!

Shock accident in Waidhofen: 11-year-old seriously injured on a bike ride!

In the late afternoon of May 14, 2025, there was a serious traffic accident in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Lower Austria, in which an 11-year-old boy was seriously injured. Around 4:05 p.m., the boy ran his bike on a walking and bike path that runs parallel to the federal road 121. At the intersection to the Patertal municipal road, he crossed the street without stopping. This led to a collision with a 55-year-old driver from the Amstetten district, which was turning from the B 121 into the community street. After the accident, the boy received medical care on site and was then transported to the State Clinic Amstetten by an emergency doctor. His injuries were classified as serious, and the next day, the next day caused the headlines, as 5min.at.

Regardless of these tragic events, an investigation shows that many children feel insecure on their way to school. Studies show that almost 18% of 10- to 17-year-old students in Germany feel a certain uncertainty on their way to school. In urban areas with over 100,000 inhabitants, this proportion even increases to 24%. These uncertainties affect both pedestrians and cyclists. The German Children's Aid Work and other organizations urgently call for more secure school routes to reduce the endangerment of children on road traffic, such as MDR.

regulations for children in road traffic

An important aspect of traffic education is safe cycling. For children up to 8 years, the following applies that they can only ride on sidewalks or structurally separate bike paths. You are not allowed to use bike or protective strips. From the age of 10, children have to use either cycle paths or the road. It is also advisable that parents or supervisors accompany children up to the age of 10 when cycling.

It is worrying that fewer and fewer children master cycling safely. The reasons are often motor deficits that arise from a lack of movement and the increased use of digital media. The ADAC and the traffic watch recommend that children only ride a bike alone after completing a bicycle test in primary school. Unfortunately, statistics show that the diarrhea rates for these exams in some schools are up to 40%.

The role of traffic education

Traffic education in schools plays a central role in the imparting of traffic rules. The bicycle test usually takes place in the 3rd or 4th grade and is intended to ensure that children are well prepared in road traffic. In order to train the balance and promote movement at an early stage, experts recommend using wheels. Nevertheless, the current situation shows that the cycling infrastructure has been improved in many areas in terms of safety in terms of safety, but there are still existing problems.

A worrying detail is the helmet quota, which was around 45% for all cyclists in 2023, but reached gratifying 83% in children between the ages of 6 and 10. Despite this positive development, road traffic remains a critical topic for the safety of children, which recalls other child accidents such as the tragic incident in Waidhofen an der Ybbs.