Traffic accidents decline, but school year start “dangerous” on roads

The number of traffic accidents involving cars declined last year. In 2014 insurers recorded 462 thousand insurance claims after a traffic accident, compared to 483 thousand in 2013. The road is most dangerous at the start of the school year and during morning and evening rush rush hour due to the low hanging sun. This is according to the Risk Monitor Traffic, which the Association of Insurers released on Thursday. For the Monitor, the Association analysed millions of claims insurers registered over the past five years. The analysis focused on collisions, so damage claims on cars for damage caused by vandalism, weather and fireworks were not taken into account. The Association found that while the number of damage claims decreased, the number of collisions involving a car and pedestrians/cyclists actually increased - 10,400 last year, compared to 9,700 in 2010. There is a remarkable surge in this type of collision just after the summer holidays, when kids go back to school for the new school year. Last year there was an average of 200 collisions involving cyclists/pedestrians per week. This number increases to 250-280 a week in the weeks after the summer vacation. The low hanging sun during morning and evening rush hour also causes a sharp increase in the number of car accidents. The morning rush hour sun led to 20 percent accidents last year, amounting to approximately 500 extra collisions. During the evening rush hour sun also caused an increase in collisions, particularly on country and municipal roads. Sundays seem to be the safest day to drive, with the least number of accidents happening on that day. The highest number of accidents happen on Fridays.