Road safety gains are expected for 2010 in Germany according to data being assimilated by motoring association 864 ADAC. The organisation expects the number of traffic related fatalities to have dropped by 10% to 3,750, once final data is complete. One of the reasons for this decrease is thought to be the severe winter conditions in early 2010. Although there were more recorded accidents in early 2010 than in the early part of 2009, the severity of the crashes was reduced as vehicle speeds were lower, drivers took more care and cut out unnecessary journeys. In addition, the tough winter conditions extended into the first few months of 2010 and pushed back the start of the motorcycling season, resulting in a notable drop in the rate of motorcycle related fatalities. However, ADAC's data suggests that the number of traffic accidents in Germany increased by 1.6% to about 2.35 million in 2010 compared with the previous year.
