Afternoon commute deadlier than morning commute
Posted March 1, 2013 9:01 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Maybe it’s because we just can’t wait to get home or we’re just tired of working all day. New numbers from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows the chances of being involved in a car crash is greater on the drive home than on the trek to the office.
The institute looked at accidents that happened between 2010 and 2011 and just under 4,000 drivers across the country were admitted to hospital between 4 p.m. and midnight, compared to just over 1,800 between midnight and 8 a.m.
Ian Jack with the Canadian Automobile Association says the numbers reinforce the need for drivers to pay more attention when behind the wheel.
“When people are a bit more tired at the end of the day, maybe they’re in a bit of a rush to get home or to pick up their kids, you can see why this fact would be true.”
Friday afternoons are also more dangerous than any other day of the week. Researchers suggest that’s because people are already pre-occupied with their weekend plans.
“That could be a greater distraction because you’ve got the weekend ahead of you, but it can also be perhaps that you relax more,” says Claire Marie Fortin with the institute.
More than 16,200 hospitalizations from collisions were on public roads; half of the people who were hurt were drivers, 19 per cent were passengers and 19 per cent were pedestrians or cyclists.
The data also shows injury wrecks involving motorcycles continue to rise; a trend that began five years ago. On a positive note, the number of off-road wrecks, involving things like all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles, is down.
More than 2,000 people a year are killed in car crashes in this country.
