The dangerous 10-minute window you're most likely to have a car accident
In a survey that analysed accident data of 57,000 vehicles, industry specialist AX discovered that a fifth of road accidents occur during the evening commute. This is between the time of 4 pm and 6pm.
However, the data noticed something interesting.
There’s a 10-minute window between 5 pm and 5:10 pm where 15 per cent of all rush hour accidents occurred, as people left their places of work during winter time. This is therefore the most error-filled and accident-prone time period for drivers.
One in six accidents occur during that 10-minute time period after 5pm.
Scott Hamilton Cooper, Director of Sales and Operations at AX, said that the results were of “little surprise”.
“It is little surprise to see the majority of accidents take place during the afternoon and evening hours when many of us are busy trying to get home or rushing to pick up our kids,” Hamilton explained.
The RAC Foundation backed the findings, saying that three quarters of the extra accidents occur during the afternoon.
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding explained:
“Every year at about this time there are calls to abandon the spring forward, fall-back rhythm of daylight saving time, but our work suggests that it's darker days and winter weather together that cause the spike in road safety risk.
“Rain, snow, ice, wind, mist and fog are all factors which make driving more challenging and – the data suggests – more dangerous.
“Wrapped up snugly in our warm and comfortable cars it's easy to feel immune to the conditions outside, yet year in, year out, they take their toll on thousands of road users.”
Have you been in a car accident around this time of day? Let us know in the comments.