Statistics on causes of national highway traffic accidents released: failure to pay attention to road conditions accounts for 50%

▲ Illustration of national highway driving. (Photo / by reporter Ji Xiangru)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Recently, the National Freeway Bureau released the causes of national highway traffic accidents over the past three years. The proportion of accidents caused by drivers failing to pay attention to road conditions reached as high as 50%. Among these, “improper lane changes” and “failure to pay attention to the road ahead” ranked first and second in the list of accident causes, indicating that driver behavior is the main contributing factor to national highway traffic incidents.

According to statistics from the National Freeway Bureau from 2013 to 2015 on the main causes of Type A1 national highway accidents, “improper lane changes” at 25.4% and “failure to pay attention to the road ahead” at 21.9% were the most frequent, along with “failure to maintain a safe following distance” at 7%, accounting for over 50% of cases. This shows that driver behaviors related to not paying attention to road conditions are the primary cause of national highway accidents.

In addition, the National Freeway Bureau also analyzed accident data across different time periods over the past five years and found that during peak traffic hours in the morning (7 a.m.–12 p.m.) and afternoon (2 p.m.–8 p.m.), due to heavier traffic volumes, accidents causing injuries or fatalities beyond 24 hours, as well as those resulting only in property damage, are more likely to occur—especially during the afternoon peak period. The distribution of fatal accidents occurring on the spot or within 24 hours is relatively more even across time.