ORLANDO, FL—A new study on automotive safety in North America has shed light on one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. and many other developed nations. Researchers at the University of Central Florida pored over millions of data on automotive accidents collected throughout the 48 contiguous states over the last 12 years, and discovered a surprising pattern.
"We were mostly just interested in the demographics of drivers of vehicles that are involved in accidents," explains Professor Tom Gershwin, the lead researcher. "This sort of information helps to inform lawmakers and mostly insurance companies to know how to adjust their rates for high-risk drivers."
Gershwin, who holds a Ph.D. from Yale in economics, explains that one of his graduate students stumbled upon a surprise while running analyses. "It was Steve[n Belchek, 28,] who found it. He noticed one of our variables was the cause of accident, and he just started reading down the list. One would read 'struck barrier,' and another would be 'collided with another vehicle.' It donned on him that almost all of the accidents shared a common theme: hitting other things."
To more closely examine this new hypothesis, the researchers spent days coding their data to assess how many car accidents could be attributed to the vehicles striking other objects, such as walls, parking meters, road signs, and even pedestrians. "It was stunning. 98.3% of accidents could be explained by incidents where they smashed into other things."
"We had to run the analysis again just to be sure," added Gershwin, 51. "The funny thing is, if anything this is probably an underestimate, because some of our documented accidents probably left out details that would indicate collisions." Gershwin explained that some accidents were listed as "spinning" or "rolling."
"See, if a car is rolling, I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that it is also crashing into the ground as the laws of physics would predict." However, Gershwin stopped short of committing to this assumption. "Of course, we'd have to be there to see it, I suppose."
The research team is about to publish a report on their findings, which they believe have far-reaching implications for automotive safety. "Oh yes," said Gershwin. "This changes everything. Now that we know what causes car accidents, prevention should be straightforward. For one thing, we strongly recommend that drivers pay close attention to the road and watch out for things that they could potentially hit with their cars and motorcycles. You know, trees, baseball stadiums, even other cars. If people just did that, we could avoid a lot of the problems."
Gershwin, who also owns a car, but occasionally bikes to work, stated that drivers may wish to avoid distracting themselves with things like cellular phones while driving. It may also be a good idea to drive without having any alcohol or other substances in your blood that could affect your ability to avoid things. He also suggested that "if you see that you are about to hit something, try to turn and miss that thing. Or you can also use the braking mechanism on the vehicle. Better yet, do both."
The professor of economics, who has taught at the university for 29 years, admits that such precautions will not stop all car accidents, but thinks that "perhaps one day, the makers of these vehicles will find a way to possibly protect a person who is in the vehicle, perhaps through some sort of restraint system or a cushion of sorts."
He looks forward to a day when vehicular accidents are a thing of the past. "As a driver myself, I feel much more confident getting behind the wheel and knowing that my best bet is to get from point A to point B, just without running into anything, or anyone, in between."