The impact of the Covid -19 pandemic on the frequency of vehicle accidents in Poland

Abstract

This article analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the intensity of road accidents in Poland. The pandemic affected not only the health of citizens, but also their preferences in terms of communication. It significantly inhibited the mobility of the society and increased the capacity of urban traffic during the rush hour of some cities. The article contains statistics on the number of road accidents that occurred in 2011-2021 and the number of people who died as a result of these accidents. The period from 2019 to 2021 was subjected to a detailed analysis in this respect. It was observed that during this period there was a significant decrease in the number of road accidents as well as a significant 30% decrease in people fatalities on the road. Such a large decline has not been recorded so far since Poland joined the European Union. The article presents a forecast of the number of people fatalities in road accidents in Poland in the years 2022-2030 (taking into account the pandemic period), which predicts an annual decline in the number of road fatalities by 7%. This article emphasizes that the duration of the Covid-19 virus pandemic should be treated as a transitional period. The decreasing number of road accidents as well as the number of fatalities in road accidents over the next years may change and their annual downward trend may not be maintained.