Icy roads cause series of accidents

According to a police spokesman, a 30-year-old man died on Monday night in the Heinsberg area of North Rhine-Westphalia after losing control of his car and colliding with trees at the side of the road.

In the small town of Hamminkeln, a 27-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries after the car driven by his 25-year-old companion hit a tree. The collision was violent enough to cause the car to spin round and slide into another tree on its passenger side.

The 27-year-old had to be cut from the wreckage, before he and the driver, who also suffered serious injuries, were taken to hospital. The police reported several other accidents in the state caused by icy roads, and warned drivers to exercise special caution.

Extremely low temperatures and high air moisture also caused icy streets on Monday night in Hamburg, where 120 winter service trucks have been dropping salt down since 2 am.

Despite the dangerous conditions, the German Automobile Association (ADAC) announced Tuesday that the number of people killed in road accidents in Germany fell this year to its lowest level since records began in 1950.

It estimated 4,080 people died on German roads in 2009, down by nine percent from the previous year.