Car accidents on the rise in Canada, Toronto: study
Posted November 26, 2015 2:13 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Car accidents are on the rise in Canada – and in Toronto, too.
According to the Allstate Canada Safe Driving Study released Thursday, there were 7.3 per cent more reported collisions in Canada in 2014-15 than in 2013. And in Toronto there were 2 per cent more accident claims.
According to the study, Toronto finished 69th among Canadian cities with the number of accidents reported, with an average of 6.45 accidents per 100 cars. The Toronto suburbs of North York and Ajax were even worse, with 7.02 and 7.12 accidents per 100 cars, respectively. Ajax finished tied with Halifax for the worst mark in Canada.
On the positive side, Ontario communities Chelmsford, St. Thomas, LaSalle, Brockville, Belle River, Sarnia and Amherstburg all finished in the top ten for the lowest number of claims. Only Brockville, with a 6 per cent increase in collision claims, had more accidents than the previous recording period. Chelmsford had the largest decrease in collision claims in Canada, an improvement of 23 per cent.
The city with the lowest number of accident claims this year was Spruce Grove, Alberta, with only 3.43 accidents per 100 cars.
While those stats may be a bit suspect because they’re provided by a single insurance company, some other stats provided in the report are a little more interesting.
According to the study, most accidents happen on Fridays, with 16.9 per cent of all accidents reported on that day. The lowest day is Sunday, with only 10.5 per cent.
And the highest cause of an accident is rear-ending, at 25.17 per cent, confirming that we’re still driving too close behind the cars ahead of us. Turning and intersections was second-highest, at 23.54 per cent, and hitting parked vehicles was a distant third at 13.57 per cent.
Not surprisingly, January, December and February are the months in which most people get involved in accidents. May, April and June have the lowest number of accidents. Welcome to driving in Canada.
And according to the study, the worst days to drive are on Dec. 23, Nov. 19 and Dec. 21, as those days are when the most people submit claims.
