Data reveals day of the week drivers most likely to have an accident

Telematics data has revealed when and at what time of the day a driver is most likely to be involved in an accident.

Research by Lightfoot suggests that Friday is the most hazardous day of the week for drivers with the most accidents, speeding events and examples of aggressive driving.

The company analysed more than 5,000 vehicles taking part in blind trials before they had Lightfoot’s driver coaching and telematics system installed and operational.

The data showed that Friday at 9am is the most common time for an accident to take place – based on the number of FNOL (first notification of loss) alerts the company receives.

Altogether, Friday is also the worst day of the week for aggressive driving, with more incidences of harsh braking, cornering, speeding and sudden turns.

Lightfoot says that tiredness at the end of the working week, which leads to mistakes and inattentiveness, could be to blame.

Lightfoot managing director, Paul Hollick, explained: “When we begin working with a business, or are piloting our system, we get data which shows the real-world situation on the road with their drivers. This data is then fed into a risk management strategy which pinpoints where they are most likely to experience poor driving.

“Over the course of these thousands of blind tests, we have consistently found that Friday is the time when things are most likely to go wrong on the roads.

“This points to stress-related reasons for the peak in bad driving on Friday - ‘weekenditis’ - as people rushing to get home for the weekend and tired minds wander away from the business of driving.”

Monday is the day when there are the lowest incidences of speeding, harsh driving and insurance claims.

“Monday’s drivers seem to have much lower instances as they arrive at work refreshed from the weekend,” said Hollick.

As well as monitoring vehicle efficiencies, Lightfoot’s telematics can also detect issues with drivers, ranging from harsh braking and acceleration to excess speed, with the in-cab dashboard device improving safety by coaching drivers.

Hollick says that companies can learn from these data insights to reduce bad driving instances and save money.

He added: “With such a high concentration of accidents and incidents taking place on Fridays, in the first instance businesses can make drivers aware that their standards may be slipping as the week wears on.

“Sometimes, raising awareness can really help. Drivers, on reflection, may then agree they need to concentrate more at certain times.

“But then they can take some more proactive steps, such as changing working routines, break times, vehicle routing or install telematics and coaching to mitigate the risk.

“The key is understanding the risk in the first place. Having the data means you can then deal with the issue.”