The risk of accidents - some statistics
No-one wants to think that they will be involved in an accident, but being aware that an accident could happen to you and the statistics is important. Accidents happen to ordinary people, so anyone who thinks that 'it won't happen to me' is sadly mistaken.
So where do accidents tend to occur, what are the hotspots? Well the answer is that they tend to occur in and around towns. This could be because the roads tend to be busier and more congested here, and the more potential vehicles in a small space the more potential impacts there are, and pro rata there will be.
95% of accidents that involve pedestrians take place in and around towns, which is no great surprise, but it shows that pedestrians are particularly vulnerable in these areas, and it may be more of a surprise to you that 70% of accidents that involve an injury of some sort or another happen in and around towns, so they really are a big accident hotspot.
The only flip side of accidents in rural areas is that whilst there are much less of them, they can be much more severe when they happen. Cars flying around narrow country roads with no visiblity that hit each other clearly lead to a much more major accident than one car misjudging its stopping very slightly at the traffic lights and nudging the bumper of the car infront for instance in the town centre.
Motorways are, statistically speaking, the safest place to drive. Although we all know of horrific accidents and pile-ups on the motorway this is the safest statistically. The bad news is as just outlined, when accidents happen at those speeds they tend to be pretty bad.
Being aware of the fact that accidents happen is not supposed to make you paranoid or nervous of driving, but rather understanding where and when and WHY accidents happen can ensure you run through the appropriate 'what if' scenarios in your ahead, are always anticipating hazards and therefore give yourself the best chance to reacting to them safely and quickly enough to avoid accident for yourself and other road users who may be less diligent than yourself.
Related Articles...
The photocard driving licence
The new type of driving licence is a photocard, and it has several features on it that it is worth understanding once you are issued with your photocard driving licence.
It contains your...
Your ignition system explained
The ignition system is of course an essential part of the technology that allows cars to function, and without it you would not get very far. But what does it do? Well the system provides the...
Towing a load such as a caravan
When you tow a vehicle such as a caravan, it is clearly the case that driving conditions will be very different, and much more so again than simply having a heavier load or having a roof rack...
Selecting low gears when driving
When you are driving, you will just learn to change gears without really thinking about what you are doing and when. But generally you will change up gears the faster you are going, and this is...
How to book your driving theory test
There is now an online booking system in place that will allow you to book a driving theory test online.
There are also other ways to book a driving theory test: over the phone and you can...
Some common engine faults
It is beyond the scope of the articles here to go into detail about how the engine works and what the various parts of it are. For the theory test you won't need to know a great detail about the...
Your engine temperature gauge
These days many of us get into a car without really understanding how any of it works, and even the engine and how it operates and powers the car is a mystery to many.
Well, essentially it...
The automatic transmission explained
Whilst the automatic transmission system is very clever, you still need to have some control over it, and this is where the selector lever comes into play, which is in the place that you would have...
Your vehicle and driving
There is a lot to take in when you are learning to drive and when you are preparing for the driving theory test. Whilst a lot of it is common sense there is a considerable amount of information you...
Reversing Exercises in the driving test
There are three reversing exercises that you could be tested on in the driving practical test.
You will be asked to perform two out of these three so that the person undertaking your test (the...
Back to home page of driving theory test questions
