-"Driving error" is the main cause-
In this section, we will explore why vehicles run off the road into roadside structures, by focusing on errors committed by drivers killed in traffic accidents in the 5-year period between 2004 and 2008.
Among the driving errors leading to fatal collisions with roadside structures, it is shown that driving errors induced nearly half (46%) the accidents, followed by failure to look ahead (31%) and judgment errors (18%). Driving error is obviously a characteristic factor in this type of accident compared to vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-person accidents (Fig. 2).
Broken down by type of structure, driving errors account for 40 to 50% for each of the structures with no large difference between them (Fig. 3). This means that the causative factors for collisions with roadside structures do not determine what type of structure the vehicle running off the road would crash into: whatever the factor is, the vehicle will smash into a structure that exists there.
As we saw earlier, driver fatality rates vary with the type of structure. A guard fence may cause relatively minor injury, whereas utility poles or other structures may pose a higher risk of severe injury if there is no guard fence. If the vehicle does not hit any roadside structures, it may cause secondary damage to a pedestrian or a house.
|
