These Are the Most Common Causes of Car Accidents

There are significant differences in driver misconduct depending on age. Older drivers are more likely to disregard right of way, while younger drivers are more likely to speed. 

Excessive speed, too many distractions, too much risk? What kind of misconduct is responsible for car accidents? The causes of car accidents vary significantly depending on the age group, as the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis) has determined. According to this, in 2024, drivers aged 65 and over were most frequently accused of behaving incorrectly when turning, reversing, entering and starting to drive in accidents involving personal injury (22.0 % of all recorded misconduct in this age group). Failure to give way or yield to other vehicles was also a common error (20.9 %).

According to Destatis, drivers aged 18 to 24 were most frequently accused of inappropriate speed (19.7 %) and insufficient distance (19.2 %) in accidents. In the middle age group of 25- to 64-year-olds, incorrect turning, reversing, and pulling in and out were the most common errors (20.5 %), ahead of right of way or priority errors (17.9 %). In total, there were just under 209,000 cases of misconduct by drivers involved in accidents with personal injury. According to the statistics authority, several causes could be involved in an accident.

Impaired Driving Ability as a Cause of Accidents

According to Destatis, the limited roadworthiness of drivers can also be a cause of accidents. According to the statistics, alcohol consumption is more likely to lead to accidents among 18- to 24-year-old drivers (3.5 %) and 25- to 64-year-olds (3.9 %) than among older drivers (1.0 %). In the 65+ age group, on the other hand, other physical and mental impairments are comparatively often (4.8 %) responsible for car accidents. These could include sudden illness or motor deficits, as the authority explains. These impairments hardly play a role among 18- to 24-year-olds (0.8 %) and 25- to 64-year-olds (1.4 %).

In total, around 312,000 drivers were involved in accidents with personal injury in 2024. Of these, 45,000 were between 18 and 24 years old, 205,000 were between 25 and 64, and 48,000 were at least 65. In the remaining cases, those involved were either younger than 18 or no age information was available.

Older Drivers Comparatively Less Frequently Involved in Car Accidents

According to Destatis, older people are less frequently involved in car accidents than younger people when measured in terms of their share of the total population. In 2024, 16.0 % of all drivers involved in car accidents with personal injury would have been 65 years of age or older. In contrast, 22.7 % of the population in Germany was at least 65 years old. In the 18 to 24 age group, the ratio is reversed: 15.0 % of those involved in accidents belong to this age group. In contrast, the proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds in the population is significantly lower at 7.2 %.

A good two-thirds (68.8 %) of all those involved in car accidents with personal injury were aged between 25 and 64. Here, too, the proportion of this age group in the total population was lower at 53.4 %. Destatis cites the fact that older people no longer drive to work regularly and therefore participate in road traffic less frequently than younger people as reasons for their lower involvement in accidents.

Accident Consequences More Serious for Older Drivers

When older people were involved in accidents with personal injury as drivers, they were held primarily responsible in more than two-thirds of cases (68.4 %), explains Destatis. Among 18- to 24-year-old drivers involved in accidents, just under two-thirds (65.9 %) were assigned primary responsibility for the accident. In the 25- to 64-year-old age group, the proportion of primary causers was significantly lower at 52.3 %.

According to Destatis, a total of 176,400 people were involved in car accidents in 2024, 1,165 of whom were killed and another 18,800 seriously injured. Among those killed, 181 were aged 18 to 24, 511 were aged 25 to 64, and 434 were at least 65 years old. On average, older people suffer more serious consequences from accidents than younger people. Overall, people aged 65 and older accounted for 12.7 % of all car accident victims, but this figure was higher for those seriously injured (20.4 %) and significantly higher for those killed (37.3 %).

This is a partly automated translation of this German article.