‘Sunday driver’ effect is part of the reason MORE fatal car crashes occur in rural areas than in urban cities
- Peak for fatal car crashes is in rural areas and on a Sunday, UCL study shows
- Weekdays have two spikes in collisions for morning and evening rush hour
- More total collisions are seen in urban areas where more people live but less car crash fatalities per capita
Fatal car crashes in England and Wales peak on Sunday, when trundling drivers are out for their weekly cruise around the countryside, a study has revealed.
It has been found that rural towns have fewer accidents than larger, built-up cities but the secluded locations have a higher frequency of fatal crashes.
Researchers studied car accidents in England and Wales over a decade and found trends revealing when and where car crashes are most likely to happen.
For example, weekdays have two peaks — in both rural and urban areas — for collisions, which correlate to the morning and evening commute.
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Pictured, comparison of crashes in rural (red lines) and urban (blue lines) areas. Top left, fatal crashes. Top right, serious crashes. Centre bottom, minor crashes. Data reveals two daily weekday peaks at rush hour and a notable spike in the amount of rural deaths on Sunday
Scientists at University College London (UCL) looked at accidents from 2008–2018 and classified them as either major, minor or fatal.
They were also divided into rural and urban subsets, with urban being considered as any place with more than 10,000 residents.
Writing in the study, published today in the journal Royal Society, the researchers write: ‘Rural areas in England and Wales seem to experience more fatalities than urban areas.
‘Fatal accidents reach their frequency peak on Sundays in rural areas, when perhaps more people are travelling away from their usual place or residence in urban areas.’
The reason more fatal accidents happen on rural roads is due to several differences between secluded and built-up areas.
For example, in rural areas, crashes are more likely to be head-on and include a stationary object.
The scientists, led by Ms Carmen Cabrera-Arnau, a PhD candidate at UCL, add that older people make up a larger proportion of the rural population.
They are more fragile and at higher risk of death following a collision, the researchers state. Difficulty obtaining medical assistance rapidly was also cited as a potential reason for the increased mortality in rural areas.
Researchers studied car accidents in England and Wales over a decade and found a disproportionately high number of traffic collisions occur in well-populated urban areas, in comparison to smaller areas
Analysis of the vast data also revealed certain windows where collisions are more likely.
For example, accidents leading to serious and minor injuries have two daily peaks, one minor and one major.
The lower peak is linked to morning rush hour and the larger one directly correlates to evening rush hour.
At weekends, there are less accidents than on weekdays and the two peaks are no longer present.
