A study by the University of Cambridge examines who the highest-risk drivers and vehicles are, based on a 10-year research project. For this purpose, several large datasets spanning the period from 2005 to 2015 were utilized. The study analyzed the risk posed to other road users by bicycles, passenger cars, taxis, vans, buses, trucks, and motorcycles. The cases were categorized based on the location of the incidents (urban vs. rural areas), the driver’s gender, and the type of roads (minor vs. major thoroughfares).

The Highest-Risk Vehicles

In terms of absolute numbers, passenger cars are involved in the highest number of accidents—nearly two-thirds. This, of course, is primarily due to the fact that they are the most widely used vehicles. Therefore, the study shifted its approach to measure traffic accidents per vehicle per one billion kilometers driven.

Under this metric, trucks emerge as the highest-risk vehicles. Every kilometer driven by a truck is associated with 5 times more fatalities than 1 km driven by a passenger car. Motorcycles also prove to be high-risk. Each kilometer driven on a motorcycle is linked to 2.5 times more fatalities than every kilometer driven in a passenger car. Conversely, the bicycle was found to be the safest mode of transport, with 1 fatality per every 1 billion kilometers traveled.

A crucial observation is that in urbanized areas, the majority of road casualties are pedestrians, which should prompt authorities to take measures for their protection.

The data also reveals that men are significantly higher-risk drivers. The risk of accidents among men driving passenger cars and vans is nearly twice as high as among women. The risk for male truck drivers is almost 4 times higher, while for male motorcyclists, it is 10 times higher.

However, we must not forget that this phenomenon is also due to the fact that the vast majority of professional drivers are men.

Source: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/304671

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Graph based on statistics from the University of Cambridge study.