In 2024, there was a significant decrease in the number of accidents involving public transport vehicles in Brno. The Brno Transport Company (DPMB) recorded 757 accidents last year, an 8% decrease compared to 2023, which saw 823. The most common cause of collisions, as in previous years, was when other vehicles fail to give way to trams when turning left.
“The 8% year-on-year decrease in the accident rate is the result of working with our drivers and the transport measures that have been successfully implemented,” said Miloš Havránek, General Director of DPMB. “We have been communicating this topic intensively with drivers over the past year and motivating them with financial rewards for achieving zero accident rates. We have also proposed eight transport measures that could help reduce the accident rate in high-risk areas. The first two on Křenová have been successfully implemented. We believe that we will continue reducing the number of accidents even further, and thus increase the safety of not only our passengers, but all road users.”
DPMB paid out financial rewards to more than a thousand drivers who had no accidents or passenger complaints between June and the end of November. Overall, DPMB drivers were responsible for less than a third of all accidents.
“The measures implemented on Křenová consisted of prohibiting left turns from Rumiště across the tram line, and shortening the length of the turn at the traffic light from Koliště onto Křenová,” explained Jan Seitl, transport director of DPMB. “We would like to continue implementing the measures together with the city of Brno so that Křenová is no longer the leader in the number of traffic accidents involving public transport vehicles.”
The most common cause of accidents involving public transport vehicles is failure to yield the right of way, which accounts for almost a third of collisions.
“A typical example is a passenger car turning left,” added Havránek. “The driver is watching the oncoming traffic, but does not notice a tram driving in parallel and drives straight into its lane. Our drivers prevent dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of such accidents thanks to their foresight and caution. But this is not always possible, as given the tram’s weight, the braking distance is tens of metres long.”
Critical places in terms of accident rates are Křenová (59 accidents last year), followed by Veveří (26), Štefánikova (24) and Vídeňská (22). Compared to 2023, the number of accidents on Palackého, Lidická and Cejl decreased.
Collisions with public transport vehicles are most common during morning and afternoon rush hours, when traffic is heaviest. The highest number of accidents occurred in January 2024 (83), followed by September (75) and October (72). The day of the week with the most collisions was Wednesday (153 accidents).
