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When are you more likely to be involved in an accident?

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Author: | Updated: 20 Feb 2019 12:53

Winter car prangs, bumps and scrapes peak in the 10 minutes between 17:00 and 17:10, according to new research from accident specialist, AX.

The analysis of over 57,000 vehicle accidents shows that the evening commute between 16:00 and 18:00 accounts for nearly a fifth of incidents on any given day.

Almost one in six prangs during the evening peak occur in the 10-minute period starting at 5pm, making it the most error-prone time for drivers. Taking to the road just 10 minutes later could half the risk of being involved in an accident.

crash3_3

The evening rush hour is followed by the 3pm school run as the most accident-prone time on UK roads.

Within the two-hour period between 14:00 and 16:00, the majority of crashes took place in the 10 minutes between 15:00 and 15:10 as most parents are rushing to pick their children up from school.

Share of accidents across the day

00:00 - 02:00 0.81%
02:00 - 04:00 0.47%
04:00 - 06:00 0.64%
06:00 - 08:00 5.80%
08:00 - 10:00 13.06%
10:00 - 12:00 13.11%
12:00 - 14:00 15.62%      
14:00 - 16:00 16.04%
16:00 - 18:00 17.47%
18:00 - 20:00 10.89%
20:00 - 22:00 4.19%
22:00 - 24:00 1.92%

This year has already seen snowfall and icy temperatures cause chaos on Britain’s roads, with the winter period of November to March seeing accident rates spike by 7.45% compared with the summer months.

With 34% of accidents involving one car hitting the rear of another, AX is warning motorists ahead of the traditionally wet March to leave a sensible gap to the car in front.

“Stopping distances double in the rain and are as high as 10 times more in icy and snowy conditions,” explains Scott Hamilton-Cooper, director of sales and operations at AX.

“This goes some way to also explaining why 31% of incidents we manage involve a moving car hitting a parked one as the driver loses control.”

And yet, despite increasingly commonplace technology like reversing sensors and cameras, nearly one in 12 winter crashes involves a driver reversing into a stationary car.

Top five types of winter road crashes

Hit in rear 34.25%
Hit whilst parked

31.51%

Third party pulled in front of car 12.88%
Third party reversed into stationary car 7.79%
Lane Change 6.70%
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