IMAGO / Frank Sorge
A drunk man drove into two 14-year-olds riding an e-scooter in the Britz neighborhood of Neukölln around 20:45 on Friday evening. Witnesses called emergency services who arrived promptly and rushed the girls to a nearby hospital, but unfortunately the e-scooter driver’s injuries were too serious and she passed away en route. Her passenger suffered major head injuries but remains in stable condition, according to a police spokesperson.
Police took a blood sample from the driver responsible for killing the girl, who would have turned 15 next week. Results showed that he was under the influence of alcohol when he hit the teenagers. Witnesses said the car appeared to be going faster than the speed limit, which likely also contributed to the fact the driver failed to stop in time when the girls entered the street on a red light.
This was not the first fatal accident in the area, nor was it the only death caused by a driver over the weekend. Just last year, a truck driver killed a cyclist only 50 meters away from the accident site. And in an unrelated event on Saturday morning, an 81-year-old woman died in a hospital in Zehlendorf after a driver hit her two weeks earlier, on the evening of April 4.
The last few years saw an overall increase in the amount of traffic incidents in Berlin, including those where personal injury was sustained. 2024 was the record year in terms of fatalities, with 55 people dead as a result of car accidents, 35 of whom were not even drivers but pedestrians and cyclists.
Initiatives such as Speedweek, coordinated by the European traffic police network Roadpool, aim to bring these numbers down. Their effectiveness, however, is debated. Speedweek clearly didn’t stop the tragedy on Friday from occuring.
Road safety, particularly that of children, is also one of the motives behind the Berlin autofrei initiative. Residents of areas with calmed traffic report that such zones are significantly more child-friendly. The organisers of Berlin autofrei have until May 8 to collect enough signatures for a referendum on drastically reducing private car traffic in the inner city to take place in September.