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Eureka Moment: 7/10 UK Drivers Admit Human Error and Road Rage Are Main Causes of Accidents

Continental has released the results of a survey that was requested to assess road safety in Great Britain.
Eureka Moment: 7/10 UK Drivers Admit Human Error and Road Rage Are Main Causes of Accidents 1 photo
Photo: Continental Infographic
Predictably, responses from the 2,000 drivers questioned show that most accidents are caused by human behavior. Specifically, we're talking about poor driving skills, driver error and road rage.

These three frequently come together and cause tragedies on the road, and seven in ten Britons admitted their own driving is to blame for the horrendous number of daily fatalities. According to official data, 1,775 people were killed on UK roads in 2014 as a result of car accidents.

The researchers found that humans use double-standards when it comes to driving habits, which causes people to get wound up by the poor driving of others and to react angrily with extra aggressiveness. This turns into a never-ending spiral that harms everyone on the road because the drivers upset by aggressive road users tend to behave in a similar manner with others.

Four in ten motorists questioned by the surveyors admitted to speeding in the previous month. If speeding wasn't enough to endanger other road users, nine out of ten road users confessed to getting very angry when they noticed other drivers' bad habits.

We feel the need to specify that the researchers used the word "very" right next to "angry" in their statistic referring to 90% of the survey responders. Go ahead, ask yourself, when was the last time you got "very angry" while on the road?

Irresponsible behavior such as speeding, acting on road rage, not using blinkers, tailgating, careless overtaking and using cell phones while driving caused serious injuries to 22,807 people in the UK alone. That number is valid for 2014 according to the British Department of Transportation and goes hand-in-hand with the over 1,700 people that lost their lives in road incidents last year.

The survey shows that drivers notice others' bad habits in 25% of their journeys. Some of these journeys come to an abrupt end because 500 accidents take place on UK roads every day, according to a 2015 statistic by the British Department of Transport.

On a European level, human error is the main cause of car accidents. From distraction and drowsiness to substance intoxication and poor capabilities, our fellow humans make up for most of the reasons crashes happen. However, there are still situations where bad road conditions and poor weather play an important role in traffic incidents, just like the occasional vehicle failure.

According to Continental, 1.24 million road deaths could be prevented every year. This is the company's dream: a world where innovative technologies will allow driving a car without the possibility of crashing. Until that happens, keep your eyes on the road, stay sharp, and buckle up!
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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