Vehicle Safety, Close Calls and Roundabouts - What our survey revealed

January 09, 2020, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Our Annual Survey on Ontario Auto Insurance reveals that Ontario drivers revealed some interesting statistics about our feelings on vehicle safety, close calls, and roundabouts. The survey is well worth the read but I’ll continue to blog about the highlights of the survey in the coming weeks and months.

Vehicle safety features like back up cameras are slowly becoming mandatory but for many of us driving older cars they aren’t a safety feature that we are benefitting from. Our survey found that:

• Half of those interviewed have back up cameras installed in their vehicles. This leaves half of us without the additional benefit of seeing exactly what is behind our car below the window level. For people driving SUVs this can amount to a considerable hazard. Over 80% of people who have them use them.
• 31% of us now have adaptive cruise control which seems like a high figure considering what a new feature it is. Adaptive cruise control is a safety feature that automatically adjust the speed (lower) if it senses the traffic ahead slowing. It is a great benefit in avoiding rear end collisions at high speed.

Roundabouts are a common feature in Waterloo Region and are becoming very common in the rest of Canada as well. Here’s what we found:

• 46% of respondents come across roundabouts on a monthly basis. 33% come across a roundabout at least once a year, and 21% do not come across roundabouts at all.
• Residents in the GTA are significantly less likely to come across a roundabout on a monthly basis (37%) compared to residents in the rest of Ontario (56%).
• 52% of respondents claim to be ‘very’ comfortable driving in roundabouts, and a further 37% say they are ‘somewhat’ comfortable. Only 12% told us they are ‘not’ comfortable.
• The two concerns cited most often by respondents related to roundabouts involved other drivers. Other drivers not paying attention at 63%, and similarly watching for other drivers (57%).
• Those who use roundabouts less frequently were more likely to mention they are personally unsure about when they can go, and which lane they should use. Being timid and uncertain behind the wheel can cause accidents.

Close calls are considered times that we have been behind the wheel and nearly been involved in a car crash. Here’s what you told us about these events:

• Almost 3 in 10 (28%) of drivers in this survey have experienced at least one close call while driving in the past three months. There was no statistical difference between the GTA and the rest of Ontario, or men vs. women.
• Those 18-39 years are significantly more likely (38%) to say they had at least one close call compared to those 40-59 years (23%) and those 60-74 years (22%).
• For the vast majority of respondents who had a close call in the past three months, there was another vehicle involved (87%). Just over 1 in 10 (11%) say there was a bicycle, and 11% said there was a pedestrian.
• In the respondent’s opinion, speed or being in a rush was the biggest cause of a close call (45%), followed by distracted driving (38%), and improper turns (25%).

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.