New research from insurance expert Howden Insurance has outlined the top causes of road collisions in the UK, with driver error found to be the leading cause.
The study analyzed accident data from the Office for National Statistics to see the leading causes of road collisions in the UK over the past decade.
Research indicates that driver error is the primary cause of road collisions in the UK, accounting for an average of 67.26% of accidents annually. Among UK regions, London stands out with the highest percentage of driver error collisions, averaging 74.24%.
The second most common cause is drivers failing to look correctly, contributing to 37.81% of all collisions. Once again, London records the highest percentages in this category, averaging 46.78%.
Behavior or experience ranks third as a cause, cited in 23.61% of collisions. The West Midlands leads in this category, with an average of 29.26% of collisions listing this as a cause over the past decade.
Injudicious action, signifying poor judgment, holds the fourth position on the list, with an average of 21.86% of collisions citing this as a cause in the UK. Once again, the West Midlands records the highest percentage of collisions with this cause, at 28.01%.
Finally, failing to judge another person’s speed or path accounts for 20.06% of collisions, with the West Midlands also recording the highest percentage in this category, at 24.16%.
| Rank | Cause | Percentage of all collisions (2013 – 2022 average) |
| 1 | Driver/rider error or reaction | 67.26% |
| 2 | Driver/rider failed to look properly | 37.81% |
| 3 | Behavior or inexperience | 23.61% |
| 4 | Injudicious action | 21.86% |
| 5 | Driver/rider failed to judge other person’s path or speed | 20.06% |
| 6 | Driver/rider careless, reckless or in a hurry | 16.38% |
| 7 | Impairment or distraction | 15.22% |
| 8 | Road environment contributed | 12.89% |
| 9 | Poor turn or maneuver | 12.74% |
| 10 | Loss of control | 12.50% |
Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for Howden Insurance said, “This data shows that the top causes of road accidents in the UK vary a lot, but in most cases they are due to human error. It’s interesting to see just how many more collisions happen due to human error compared with any other cause, showing that you can always be at risk from other drivers on the road and not just yourself, so it’s important to maintain a good insurance plan.”
Source: RAS0705: Reported road collisions and casualties by a contributory factor, English regions and country, Great Britain, 10 years up to 2022
Methodology: The average percentage for each cause was calculated by using the numbers from each year between 2013 and 2022, and those with the highest percentages came out on top