Illinois drivers might have certain perceptions about safety. Since auto accidents seem to happen randomly, it will come as a surprise that there are circumstantial hallmarks involved. For example, it is a mistake to think that longer trips raise the risk. On the contrary, researchers found that shorter trips increase the chance of a collision. This and other factors should be considered when heading out on the road.
Study says auto accidents are more frequent during shorter trips
According to a survey, almost 25% of accidents happen in the first three minutes of driving. Fourteen percent happen in the first six minutes. This is troubling because 87% of driving trips last less than a half-hour. By contrast, 1% are for more than one hour. The head of the study stated that a strategy to avoid these accidents is the most obvious one: do not drive for short distances. If drivers simply choose another method of transportation, an estimated 40% of accidents would not happen.
Relatively speaking, the safest amount of time for drivers to be on the road was between 10 and 20 minutes. When taking a trip of more than 40 minutes, the risk is more than doubled than for those taking a trip shorter than 20 minutes. There are other aspects that contribute to accidents. Cellphone use is one such concern as it is involved in more than one-quarter of all collisions. The study was expansive and covered 3.2 million vehicle trips and nearly 2,000 motor vehicle accidents between 2018 and 2019.
After an auto accident
When simply driving to work, school, running errands or going on a short ride to a leisure activity, this research is relevant to overall safety. Particularly, it is worrisome for parents of teens who are new to the road and are already in jeopardy of an accident. Knowing when accidents may happen is important. Unfortunately, in some cases, they are impossible to avoid.
