Fatigue contributes to far more traffic accidents than was previously thought. Fatigue is a contributing factor in 12 percent of all collisions and 10 percent of all near-crashes, while most current database estimates place fatigue-related traffic accidents at approximately two to four percent of total traffic accidents. (100 Cars Study, Virginia Tech)
45 percent of all sleep-related accidents occur in daylight, 50 percent in darkness and approximately 5 percent at dusk. (NASS/CDS)
Sleep-related accidents occur more often outside urban areas than other single-vehicle accidents do. (Anna Anund, VTI, Sweden)
Approximately 70 percent of all sleep-related accidents occur on roads with speed limits of 90-110 km/h. (Anna Anund, VTI, Sweden)
The American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that every year over 100,000 accidents are caused by driver fatigue in the US, in which 1500 people are killed and a further 71,000 are injured. The NHTSA claims that the risk of an accident or a near-accident increases four- to six-fold if driving when tired.
Rear-end collisions
Rear-end collisions are the most frequent of all accident types, accounting for 29 percent of all car accidents reported to the police, according to the NHTSA.
In more than 50 percent of the above accidents, the driver does not brake at all before the collision.
90 percent of all rear-end collisions are partly or fully due to distracted drivers. (100 Cars Study, Virginia Tech)
Traffic accident databases from Sweden, Germany and the US show that rear-end collisions account for 5 percent of all severe personal injuries.
Road departure
Approximately 33 percent of all accidents in Volvo Cars' statistical accident database are accidents with an initial road departure, of which approximately 75 percent occur on roads with speed limits of 70 km/h and above.
Approximately 40 percent of accidents with serious personal injuries in Volvo Cars' statistical accident database are accidents with an initial road departure. 80 percent of these occur on roads with speed limits of 70 km/h and above.
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