Black Spots of Belgrade - Common and Lesser-known Locations of Traffic Accidents (MAP)

Belgrade has been getting increasingly "tight" for its residents and especially their cars for years.

While on workdays, the central city zones are literally bustling with vehicles, with sometimes up to half an hour of waiting for a parking spot, and the noise and air pollution levels in the city being critically high as a result, the traffic picture in the city is completely different on weekends and holidays. The city is more accessible then, but the concentration of parked cars per parking space in peripheral neighborhoods and on sidewalks is almost unreal.

It is true that Belgrade lacks the traffic infrastructure to accommodate the growth of its population and further urbanization, but the number of registered vehicles in the city is a statistic that would make even much larger cities "envious" of our capital. Namely, according to the data from the Republic Statistical Office, almost 570,000 passenger vehicles were registered in Belgrade in 2019.

In conditions of inadequate connectivity of the city with public transportation lines, but also (let's be honest) due to the lack of environmental awareness among the citizens who are reluctant to give up the comfort of their own vehicles, the number of cars on the streets of Belgrade is reaching critical levels.

When combined with unfavorable weather conditions that further complicate the functioning of the city, it is clear why traffic jams are an almost daily occurrence in Belgrade.

One of the consequences of such congestion, although certainly not the sole cause, are numerous traffic accidents. According to publicly available data for the territory of the City of Belgrade, there have been nearly 8,000 such accidents since the beginning of the year.

"Bumping" with material damage

Indeed, the majority of these accidents result in what is commonly referred to as "bumping" with only material damage. From the beginning of 2020 until September this year, there were even 5,654 such incidents in Belgrade.

An experienced driver would immediately assume that the two most critical locations in Belgrade are the roundabouts at Autokomanda and Slavija. However, in addition to these two intersections as black spots, the following locations also stand out:

• the corner of Vojislava Ilića and Ustanička streets
• the corner of Cvijićeva and Bulevar despota Stefana streets
• the intersection in front of the Terazije Tunnel
• the intersection near the Ušće Shopping Center
• the roundabout near the municipality of New Belgrade
• the roundabout near the Faculty of Orthodox Theology
• the intersection near Lidl in Čukarica

Interestingly, the majority of these accidents occurred during the afternoon rush hour, between 3 PM and 6 PM, indicating that, in addition to congestion, the possible causes could be a drop in driver concentration after a long workday and impatience to reach the destination as quickly as possible.

Traffic accidents with injured individuals

During the same period, there were 1,664 traffic accidents with consequences that (in addition to material damage) also involved injured passengers.

In most cases, the causes of these accidents were excessive speed and disregard for traffic rules by the drivers themselves.

Interestingly, in this context, the Mostar Loop stands out as the "darkest" spot, followed closely by the intersection of Nemanjina and Kneza Miloša streets, Autokomanda, the intersection of Ruzveltova and Bulevar kralja Aleksandra, Radnička Street, and again the corner of Vojislava Ilića and Ustanička streets.

Similar to the previous case, the majority of these accidents occurred during the afternoon rush hour, between 3 PM and 6 PM.

Traffic accidents with fatalities

Unfortunately, during the mentioned period, there were 24 traffic accidents with fatal outcomes. The locations where these accidents occurred can be clearly seen on the map below the text.

Unlike the first two cases, these accidents occurred mostly during the night hours, between 10 PM and 6 AM, when the traffic is significantly lighter compared to previous situations.

This data can highlight driver fatigue as a cause but certainly also their reckless behavior, such as excessive speed, failure to yield, and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Considering all the above, it remains only to make a strong appeal to drivers to adjust their driving to the current city conditions at all times, to "arm themselves" with patience when necessary, and to respect traffic regulations and other participants in traffic.