A1 has highest accident toll

| Wednesday January 29, 2014 15:37

 

Infact, the A1 corridor recorded the highest number of crashes compared to other main corridors. 'In 2012, the A1 accounted for 41.0 percent of crashes in all the major corridors and the common causes of crashes were domestic animals, rear-end and side collisions,' the report says.

The number of pedestrians hit by vehicles along the A1 increased to 52 last year from 37 in 2011.

On the other hand, the A2 and A3 corridors accounted for 33 percent and 38.3 percent of annual crashes recorded on those roads respectively, all attributed to domestic animals.

'The major incidents on the A10 and A12 corridors were rear-end and side collisions and domestic animals,' the report says.

It shows that total crashes, fatalities and serious injuries, have not changed significantly between 2006 and 2012.

'In 2012, the total number of recorded crashes was 17,527, a decrease from 18,001 recorded in 2011, but the overall trend indicates that total recorded crashes decreased since 2008.'

On time and environment, the report says most crashes causing death and serious injury occur in the evening between 6pm and 8pm followed by 4pm and 6pm. Most of these crashes take place during weekends and at monthend.

'Trends for the past seven years show that fatalities are usually low in January and February and go up in March and April,' the report notes. Fatalities decline in May, June and July and then rise again in August, September and October, reaching their peak in December.

The report states that Fridays and Saturdays recorded above average crashes while Thursdays were not very far below the average. “Although there was no significant variation in daily crashes, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays were slightly higher than other days,' it says. It attributes factors to increased travel, consumption of alcohol, speeding and careless driving. Regarding crashes, fatalities and serious injuries, trends followed a similar pattern as total crashes over the period, except for 2011 when fatalities went up against a drop in total recorded crashes.

The report says an increase in total crashes cannot result in the same increase in both fatalities and serious injuries, but the general trend is that when total crashes go down, both fatalities and injuries go down as well.