The day of the week with the highest number of car crashes in the UK is Friday, a new report has found.
According to Mark Hunter, Managing Director at road traffic accident specialists, Mackrell & Thomas Solicitors, these stats highlight that people need to take more care on the road.
“Obviously, the consequences of road traffic accidents can be disastrous.
“Many people suffer life changing injuries due to careless driving. Statistics like these highlight how drivers in a rush and distracted can lead to dangerous situations.”
The study, carried out by insurance giants Direct Line, scooped together data from over 700,000 traffic incidents over the span of four years between 2011 and 2015. The statistics show that the drivers are 14{ee2a2ced2e83a70af3b12a5f5f4bc88f1c095ae1846c54ee750c7ec9c020c045} more likely to be caught in a road traffic collision on a Friday than any other day of the week.
Surprisingly, a crash is expected to happen 7{ee2a2ced2e83a70af3b12a5f5f4bc88f1c095ae1846c54ee750c7ec9c020c045} more often on Fridays than Thursdays, which is the second worst day of the week.
Perhaps the most shocking fact emerging from the study is that drivers in the UK are over twice as likely to be involved in a crash on a Friday than on a Sunday, which has been proven to be the day of the week least likely for a collision.
More specifically and perhaps a little unsurprisingly, the time of day where crashes are most likely to occur is between the hours of 5pm and 6pm, widely regarded as the dreaded ‘rush hour’. A staggering – and somewhat poignant – 9{ee2a2ced2e83a70af3b12a5f5f4bc88f1c095ae1846c54ee750c7ec9c020c045} of all crashes in the UK occur during this hour on a Friday; the statistic serving as a real eye opener for those rushing home from work for the weekend.
There are 24{ee2a2ced2e83a70af3b12a5f5f4bc88f1c095ae1846c54ee750c7ec9c020c045} fewer crashes on Sundays, a natural consequence of the quieter roads as a result of an absence in the school run and fewer travelling to work in general.
Managing Director of Direct Line Car Insurance Gus Park remarked: “towards the end of the week, we are often tired, rushing to get home or away for the weekend, and this can lead to people not paying as much attention to the road conditions and their surroundings.
“It is important for people to remain vigilant every time they get behind the wheel – for their own safety and that of other road users.”
Taken directly from the report, the average daily frequency of road traffic accidents in the UK were:
- Monday – 397.1
- Tuesday – 419.8
- Wednesday – 419.1
- Thursday – 424
- Friday – 453.2
- Saturday – 363.3
- Sunday – 300.7
One comforting positive extruded from the study shows that the total number of car collisions in the UK declined by 8{ee2a2ced2e83a70af3b12a5f5f4bc88f1c095ae1846c54ee750c7ec9c020c045} between 2011 and 2015.
Furthermore, the Office for National Statistics numbers for personal injury accidents that were forwarded to the police were also collated for insight into the study.
By releasing the study, the vision is to raise awareness and instil a positive influence on driver behaviour for the future. Armed with the knowledge that nearly a tenth of all road traffic incidents occur in Friday evening rush hour, drivers may wish to be more conscious of their driving safety, thus getting home without putting their own or the lives of other drivers and pedestrians at risk.