Early hour collisions have biggest impact among drivers

Tuesday, December 2, 2014 - 13:16
Comments off
transit

“Technology is giving us greater insights into the causes of collisions”

Average collision speeds increase by 53% between 8pm and 2am

Drivers using the roads in the early hours of the morning are more likely to be involved in a high-speed collision, according to research by In-Car Cleverness (ICC).

The vehicle management specialist analysed data from nearly 900 rental cars and vans to show that the speed of vehicles involved in a collision peaks at 2am when the impact speed of accidents hits an average of 36mph.

Perhaps strangely, the speeds at which accidents occur increase steadily from the early evening – starting at 24mph at 8pm and rising by 53% over the next six hours. However, the highest collision speed recorded was 100mph, from a crash that happened during evening rush hour.

Tim Eaves, Commercial Director at In-Car Cleverness, said: “Technology is giving us greater insights into the causes of collisions and the figures we have studied indicate that motorists are taking more risks when driving at night, when they can take advantage of the light traffic but when tiredness and the absence of daylight makes conditions more conducive to accidents.”

The research also showed a worrying trend affecting rush hour drivers – between 4pm and 5pm, the average collision speed increased sharply by 18%, from 27mph to 32mph.

Eaves concluded: “The spike in average speed of collisions during the rush hour is also a concern for fleet managers. Driving at higher speeds results in a greater impact and, should a collision take place, the consequences for the vehicle occupants and the fleet overheads are inevitably worse.”

The report recorded data from collisions which took place from August 2014 to September 2014.

Comments are closed.