Nowadays we all get that human error is the cause of most vehicle accidents, which is why authorities everywhere are increasingly focusing on issues such as distracted driving or driving under the influence.
Those all relate to human behaviour. Although it might seem easier to intervene in road safety through manufactured solutions like airbags, seatbelts and road signage, human behaviour too can be tackled in a way that gets results.
That’s because human beings (despite appearances sometimes!) are actually quite predictable if you know where to look.
Below we set out the actual roots of most car and truck accidents. Our analysis shows that four states of body and/or mind – Rushing, Complacency, Frustration and Fatigue – are at work behind the scenes. Let’s look at them in turn and how they operate:
1. Frustration: “Better back down, pal, or we got a problem here…”
Road-rage clips quickly go viral: we all love juicy drama, especially where the stakes are high. But another reason for our fascination is the fact that we can relate: several times a day something or other gets on our nerves or frustrates us. Since we always share the road with other users, the possibilities for conflict can escalate unless we understand the danger of the ‘red mist’ and learn techniques to mitigate the risks.
Sadly, road deaths related to Frustration behaviours accounted for 14.3% of deaths in our US 2021 study.
It is instructive to look at the subcategories: do any look familiar?
- Failure to yield right of way: 7%
- Overcorrecting/oversteering: 3%
Few could argue that yield-failures could often be linked to frustration at others appearing to hog the lane or thwart us. Turning the wheel too far is another feature of drivers who might be experiencing panic or frustration. Remember we mentioned the 4.3% of accidents associated with driving in an erratic, reckless, or negligent manner? Frustration too could be in the mix for that lethal cohort. (Remember that, as disentangle causes, very often there will be a mix of factors in play.)
Time for another culprit…
2. Fatigue: “Just gonna close my eyes for a second…”
Unfortunately, as roads improve and motorways extend, generally predictable and comfortable conditions can lead drivers to zone out. That is why you must not take the wheel if your sharpness of mind is in question in any way. Feeling sleepy? Stop right there: have a coffee and take a nap before driving another metre.
Looking at the US 2021 figures, we see that 13.4% of lethal incidents on the road are associated with Fatigue.
The major subcategory here is driving under the influence, whether of alcohol or prescribed/unprescribed drugs (11.2%). A further 2.2% of road fatalities were assigned by investigators to being drowsy, asleep, fatigued, ill, or blacked out.
Let’s turn to the next leading culprit…
3. Complacency: “So easy, I could do this in my sleep…”
The human tendency to slip into autopilot or an ‘I got this’ attitude is nowhere easier to see than behind the wheel. Evolution has endowed us with an amazing ability to adapt so much to a repeated activity that we can carry out many of our daily tasks without expending much brain power. This can be especially relevant for work-related driving, the leading cause of mortality at work, notes the French road-safety body, responsible for about one in five road deaths.
Trouble is, when it comes to driving a lump of metal around the world at speeds up to 80 or 100 kph, you really need to keep focused on what is happening, second by second.
The stats are stark: in 2021 fatal vehicular accidents in the US associated with Complacency could have reached as high as 16.1%
That total breaks down into three main subcategories:
- Failure to keep in proper lane: 6.6%
- Failure to obey traffic signs, signals, or officer: 4%
- Distracted (eg, phone, talking, eating, some object: 5.5%
Let’s turn to the next leading culprit…
Now for our final culprit…
4. Rushing: “I should have left ten minutes ago…”
Being in a rush, plain and simple, is the leading cause of death on our roads.
Rushing puts one in a frame of mind where thinking sensibly becomes difficult: priorities are skewed, and you are no longer dealing with reality as it is actually unfolding. Instead your thoughts are already at the destination, imagining worst-case scenarios of doors locked or connections missed. Being on time though is not worth the price of a life!
Driving too fast for the conditions accounted for 18.5% of fatal crashes in the US. Additionally, operating a vehicle in an erratic, reckless, or negligent manner contributed to 4.3% of fatal accidents involving moving vehicles, according to the "Driving Behaviors...Reported in Fatal Crashes" table. Rushing often leads to these dangerous behaviors. Combined, these factors were responsible for 22.9% of all fatal accidents, nearly a quarter of the total.
Together, these four states accounted for 67% of all fatal accidents. The remaining accidents, according to the "Driving Behaviors…Reported in Fatal Crashes" report, were due to unknown or unreported reasons.
Handling the Four States with YOUFactors
Behavioral safety platform YOUFactors is uniquely equipped to mitigate the risks associated with these four seriously consequential states.
Innovative and relentlessly tested features target Rushing, Complacency, Frustration, and Fatigue, the four culprits that we have seen can cause so much damage if left unaddressed by anyone taking the wheel.
For instance, the Rate Your State screen provides a quick self-check to alert drivers to potentially hazardous mental states.
If a near-miss occurs due to rushing, YOUFactors’ Close Call Analysis feature can identify underlying issues to prevent future accidents.
That’s not all: YOUFactors offers interactive and engaging courses and microlearning modules that educate drivers about the dangers of complacency and provide doable strategies to stay focused. YOUFactors’ tracking functions help identify patterns of frustration, allowing drivers to preemptively manage emotions on the road.
By emphasizing error anticipation and providing tools for ongoing learning and social sharing, YOUFactors empowers individuals and organizations to promote safer driving habits and reduce accidents.
The takeaways
Most avoidable accidents (94% according to the US National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey) are rooted in the mental/physical state of the driver who caused the accident. In this article we learned that:
- Most fatal accidents involving vehicles can be traced to four personal States: Rushing, Complacency, Frustration and Fatigue
- These four States take our eyes and/or mind off the task of operating our vehicle responsibly and safely
- The key remedy is to tackle these dynamic, fluctuating States with a thorough understanding of human nature and neuroscience
- YOUFactors harnesses these strengths through Digital and Nudge Learning; Rate Your State; Close Call Analysis; Error Anticipation; and Social Sharing
YOUFactors is a digital nudge companion underpinned by decades of research and workplace experience that uses the neuroscience of learning to dramatically improve workplace safety. Book a no-obligation demo or learn more about YOUFactors today!
References
“Table: Driving Behaviors Reported For Drivers And Motorcycle Operators Involved In Fatal Crashes, 2021”, US Insurance Information Institute: Highway-safety statistics for 2013-22
US National Motor Vehicle Crash 2005-07 Causation Survey (2018)
French Road Safety Observatory: Work-related Accidents 2017-21 (2022)
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YOUFactors Team
June 18, 2024
