1. How Misjudgment Accidents Occur
  First is the question about how such misjudgment accidents occur. "Misjudging the road situation" means such cases in which a driver mistakes a sharp curve for a gentler curve, a steep hill for a gradual slope, or an icy road surface for a wet one. An accident takes place when a driver mistakenly decides that it is not necessary to slow down, or realizes the need to slow down but hits the brakes too late. Such accidents are called "misjudgment accidents" for analysis.
  Using traffic accident statistics (macro statistics), analysis was conducted on accidents in which the primary parties involved four-wheeled vehicles. Table 1 shows the results. Misjudgment-related fatal and injury accidents peaked at about 9,500 cases in 2001, after which the number has fluctuated between 7,500 and 8,500 cases. From 2001 through 2005, misjudgment accidents totaled 41,744 cases, accounting for 1.00% of all accidents involving four-wheeled vehicles as primary parties (indicated in the "Total" column in Table 1).
This ratio is referred to as "Incidence" hereafter.
  Reviewed next is the ratio of misjudgment accidents resulting in fatal and serious injury , which indicates the amount of damage. During the above five-year period, fatal and serious injury accidents totaled 6,562 cases, representing approximately 16% of all misjudgment accidents involving casualties. As the rate is about 7% for accidents caused by other factors, misjudgment accidents are significantly more likely to cause serious damage, even though the number of such accidents is small.

  ¹Incidence of misjudgment accidents (%) = p/q × 100 (calculated for fatal and injury accidents).
  p: Misjudgment accidents involving four-wheeled vehicles as primary parties
  q: All fatal and injury accidents involving four-wheeled vehicles as primary parties

  ²Rate of fatal and serious injury accidents (%) = a/b × 100
  a = Fatal and serious injury accidents
  b = Fatal and injury accidents

Table 1 "Misjudgment Accidents" and Accidents Caused by Other Factors

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Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA)