Road Safety: the top times for accidents in Canada
Road accidents happen every day and while unavoidable, they seem to be inevitable as long as cars are on the road. Whether they are the result of human error, bad driving or weather conditions, accidents can range from minor to fatal, and can affect everything from car insurance to personal health.
There are a number of things you can do to try and lower the risk of getting into a collision, like paying more attention while driving, taking a driver’s education course and making sure your car is running smoothly with frequent mechanical checks. But, have you ever wondered if there is a certain time when accidents are more prevalent? For the most part it seems that the type of accidents that occur are more prone at certain times of year than others.
We decided to take a closer look at the risks that particular seasons, and times of day, have for road users.
Winter brings an increase in pedestrian collisions
The arrival of fall weather and the end of daylight savings time seems to stir up quite a storm on the roads, with the number of car-on-car and car-on-pedestrian accidents rising on a national scale. The early arrival of darkness brings with it reduced visibility, making it harder for both drivers and pedestrians to see each other. Along with this, winter months tend to see us replacing our bright summer wardrobe with muted tones, hats and hoods. In fact, last year in Toronto 41% of pedestrian-vehicle collisions happened at intersections-most often when the pedestrian had the right of way .
The switch to daylight savings time (particularly on the day the clocks fall back) is also often tarred with the blame, with many people left feeling discombobulated- their attention away from the road and back to bed where they want to be.
"November … has traditionally been the month when pedestrians are involved in the most collisions," Toronto Police traffic services constable Clinton Stibbe told The Globe and Mail.
Outside of the city, however, drivers are faced with another collision risk-wildlife. Each year, 200 people die in North America as the result of collisions with wildlife. Late fall and early winter, especially during the darker periods of the day, see an increased risk of deers unexpectedly blocking or darting into the roads.
Summer sees more road related fatalities
Despite the increase in collisions in winter, surprisingly summer is the peak time for road related fatalities across both Canada and the U.S. Looking to Ontario alone, according to the Ministry of Transportation Ontario, almost 50% more fatalities occur between June and September than they do December to March.
Part of this lends itself to the increase in roadtrips, where families or groups of friends pile into cars for an exciting weekend away somewhere new. While this time is exciting and the air is buzzing with promise for the upcoming trip, this can also result in distracted driving. Furthermore, summer road trips can often be accompanied by a spike in driving under the influence, especially amongst students and young drivers.
Day-to-day accidents are more likely in the afternoon
While we know the kinds of accidents that are more prevalent at certain times of year, what about day-to-day? Well, a report released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information show that between 2010 and 2011 nearly 4,000 drivers were admitted to hospital between 4pm and midnight after collisions on public roads. Meanwhile this figure dropped to just under 2,600 people between 8am and 4pm, and 1,800 from midnight to 8am.
"During the day, the morning drive seems to be a lower risk period than the afternoon drive. And it may be that people are doing more driving at the end of the day — running around doing chores, etc.," said Greg Webster, CIHI's director of primary health-care and clinical registries.
It is also important to remember that, despite the lower figures at night, this is also in correlation to a smaller amount of drivers on the roads.
It also seems that cities have a lower number of accidents than smaller ones. During the period studied, Toronto and Vancouver had the lowest rates of traffic injuries per 100,000 people when the data were broken down by city. The highest rates were in Regina and St. John's, N.L. This could be due to a wider public transport network.
For the most part, while you can take precautions, accidents are called as such for a reason. One key thing is to always have adequate car insurance coverage so that you can be sure you will have support on hand, if you do find yourself in an unfortunate situation.