Prague’s astronomical clock stopped to commemorate victims of road speeding
In memory of victims of excessive speed on Czechia’s roads, the iconic astronomical clock on Prague’s Old Town Square stopped for thirteen minutes on Wednesday morning. Events and meetings across the country are also taking part in the initiative through thirteen-minute postponements.
The astronomical clock, the iconic symbol of Prague that stands on Old Town Square, stopped its ticking for thirteen minutes at 11 AM on April 23rd. The great hands were halted, but the small figure of the Grim Reaper to its side rang a death knell 148 times.
This sombre event was the initiative of the organisation Národní den bez spěchu (‘National Day Without Rushing’), which seeks to raise awareness of and combat the problem of excessive speeding by Czech drivers. The project wants to help to reduce the accident rate by reminding people that speeding often ends tragically.
The number of the Grim Reaper’s chimes commemorates the 148 people killed in incidents of speeding in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, the thirteen minutes corresponds to the number of minutes that a driver between Prague and Brno would save if they drove on average twenty kilometres per hour faster than the law allows. The time gained is very little, while the risks run are very great.
In addition to the stopped clock, events elsewhere are being postponed by the same thirteen minutes. Wednesday’s meeting of government ministers was arranged to begin at 2:43 PM. In the evening, the semi-final of the MOL Cup football match between Sparta Prague and Plzeň was also postponed by thirteen minutes. The National Day Without Rushing was organised by the Association of Insurance Companies for the third year.
Speeding is very much in the news at the moment, as Filip Turek, president of the Motoristé sobě party, is currently being investigated by the police for the offence. The Member of the European Parliament posted a picture on social media in which he was driving a car with the speedometer showing a speed of over 200 km/h.
Although the caption suggests that the picture was taken in Germany, online commenters have instead identified the road as a Czech motorway, on which the speed limit is 130 km/h. Mr. Turek has since admitted that the photo could have been taken in Czechia.
Czech paramedic Marek Dvořák spoke about the necessity of the speed limit:
“There are reasons for the limits. Many people refer to the fact that in Germany there is no speed limit on the motorway. I don't drive at 130 km/h on German motorways either. The risk increases with higher speeds in terms of kinetic energy. Of course, even slow speeds, when you are obstructing traffic, can be dangerous. It's more about how the person behaves, whether they are behaving aggressively and how they handle the vehicle. There are of course several factors, but if you hit a wall, the impact will be higher when the speed is higher.”
According to Lucie Dosedělová from organising committee of the National Day Without Rushing, excessive speed is the second most common cause of road accidents in Czechia, so often with fatal consequences.
