Skip to main content

Side road accidents ‘increase by 12% in a year’

The number of car accidents involving a driver pulling out of a side road accounted for an estimated 198,000 crashes nationwide last year, according to latest research by Accident Exchange. The accident management company analysed data from 39,000 cases of accidents it handled in 2014 and found that 9% were the result of a motorist emerging from a side road without paying enough attention. That figure in 2013 was 7.9%, representing an increase in real terms of 12% in the space of just 12 months. F
July 29, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSThe number of car accidents involving a driver pulling out of a side road accounted for an estimated 198,000 crashes nationwide last year, according to latest research by Accident Exchange.

The accident management company analysed data from 39,000 cases of accidents it handled in 2014 and found that 9% were the result of a motorist emerging from a side road without paying enough attention.

That figure in 2013 was 7.9%, representing an increase in real terms of 12% in the space of just 12 months.

Figures dating back to 2010 reveal that the gradual increase is greater still. Five years ago, Accident Exchange handled 31,000 incidents of which 7% involved a side road crash, meaning a five-year increase of more than a quarter (27%) in real terms.

Liz Fisher, sales director at Accident Exchange, commented:  “Not looking properly at side road junctions before pulling out is one of the most common – and dangerous – errors a driver can make.

“The spike in this type of collision could stem from reduced concentration, particularly distracted drivers who follow the instructions of a navigation system and forget to adhere to the rules of the road or make the necessary checks before emerging.

“The scrappage scheme of 2009/10 also removed thousands of older cars from the road. Newer models are renowned for their increased safety, but reduced visibility from thicker pillars and smaller glass areas means extra precaution should be taken when emerging from a side road into fast-flowing traffic.”

Related Content

  • Travel information is heading towards smartphones
    January 30, 2012
    Travel information services are undergoing a step change as rapid increase in sales of smartphones brings ITS technology to consumers' fingertips. A virtuous circle of expanding capability is under way in traffic and travel information services, promising much for drivers and reduction of road congestion. A recent rapid rise in sales of smartphones has boosted numbers of vehicles carrying GPS enabled devices and so brought expansion of traffic data available for analysis and dissemination. Greater numbers o
  • The sunshine subsidy for Colorado’s tollways
    January 10, 2014
    David Crawford reports on energy cost cutting on US highways. Just over a year after switch-on and with two global awards under its belt, the longest solar-powered toll road in the US is generating heightened interest in highway applications of alternative energy. The E-407, which loops around the eastern perimeter of the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado, won the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) President’s Overall Award for Excellence at its September 2013 Annual Meeting in
  • High-mileage drivers more dismissive value of speed cameras, says survey
    July 27, 2015
    High-mileage drivers are more likely than any other type of road user to think speed cameras have ‘little or no influence’ in reducing the numbers of road casualties in the UK, according to a white paper issued by the Institute of Advanced Motorists’ (IAM) Drive and Survive division. The paper, Speed Cameras – The Views of High Mileage Drivers, also found 28 per cent of high-mileage drivers have a negative view of speed cameras – 10 per cent more than other drivers. It also found that more than half o
  • New Jersey announces new initiative to combat distracted driving
    April 7, 2017
    Responding to an eight percent spike in New Jersey traffic fatalities in 2016, largely attributable to increasing distracted driving, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Division of Highway Traffic Safety are announcing a new initiative to provide state residents with a method to report dangerous drivers in order to protect motorists and pedestrians. The state’s #77 alert system, previously used for reporting aggressive driving, will now be used to report all forms of dangerous driving, from