BERLIN, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of deaths from road accidents in Germany increased by 2.7 percent in 2018 compared with the previous year, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Wednesday.
Last year, the number of road fatalities went up to 3,265, compared with 3,180 deaths in 2017. Nonetheless, the 2018 figures were the third lowest since statistics were first recorded in 1953.
According to Destatis, the number of pedestrians killed in road accidents in Germany decreased by 6.1 percent in the same period, and the number of passenger car occupants killed also decreased by 2.1 percent.
In contrast, fatal accidents involving bicycles and motorcycles increased significantly. The number of cyclists who died in road accidents in Germany rose to 50, up 13.6 percent compared to the previous year. A total of 57 motorcyclists were killed, an increase of 9 percent.
Speaking to Xinhua on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the general German Automobile Club (ADAC) said "the increase in the number of cyclists and motorcyclists killed is striking," and cited the "unusually long and warm summer" as a probable cause.
In 2017, the statistics office cited "speeding" as one of the "main causes of accidents."
Only 30 percent of German motorways have a speed limit in place. Discussions are ongoing on the introduction of a countrywide speed limit. Proponents cite accident reduction and climate change mitigation in favor of the measure.
ADAC has recently described highways as "by far the safest roads in Germany," and argued that other countries with general speed limits, such as Belgium or the United States, "do not perform better than Germany" in terms of road accidents.
The idea of introducing a countrywide speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour was recently suggested by the National Platform Future of Mobility (NPM). The group of experts was commissioned by the German government to come up with measures to help the country meet its climate change goals in the transport sector.
The German government remains opposed to the introduction of a general speed limit on motorways, government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said, adding that "there are more intelligent control options than a speed limit" in the fight against climate change.
