Accident rate

In statistics and accident research, the accident rate is the ratio of all accidents of a certain system within an investigated spatial and temporal framework to the general frequency of use and the size of this system.

General

The accident rate is a key figure that can be determined both at the state level and regionally. It compares the number of all accidents with the total number of all transactions. To put it simply, the number of accidents is divided by the number of trips to calculate the accident rate. The accidents are limited to a specific location or region and a specific period of time. They can be sorted according to the type of accident (for example, work accident , household accident , sports accident or road traffic accident ) or according to the means of transport involved in the accident (motorized: trains , buses , e-bikes , e-scooters , planes or ships such as inland or ocean-going vessels , container ships and ferries as well as Segways ; non-motorized: bicycles , pedestrians , skateboards , pack animals and scooters ).

Investigation in traffic

The number of road traffic accidents on a certain road per year, for example, does not make any useful statement about the dangerousness of this road, because more accidents occur on particularly heavy traffic or particularly long roads. First the accident rate, d. H. the quotient of the number of accidents and the product of traffic volume and section length provides a useful statement about the risk of being involved in a traffic accident on this road .

The data basis for calculating the accident rate in road traffic is the number of accidents (usually per year), the section lengths and the average daily traffic volume ( ) calculated on the basis of official counts for a reference year that is as current as possible . Expressed as a formula: ${\ displaystyle UR}$ ${\ displaystyle U}$ ${\ displaystyle L}$ ${\ displaystyle DTV}$ ${\ displaystyle t}$

{\ displaystyle UR = {\ frac {U \ cdot 10 ^ {6}} {DTV \ cdot L \ cdot 365 \ cdot t}} [U / million car km]}

.

A certain street or a section of street is considered to be an accident-prone accident blackspot if the accident rate is over 20%. Accident-prone is a term in the transport sector today, although accidents in the home and at work are by no means rare. The focus of accidents is the concentration of the same or similar accidents in one place. The guideline values for accident blackspots in North Rhine-Westphalia are based on three accidents on municipal , district , state and federal roads (out of town <500 meters), on motorways from three accidents (on or off, <500 meters) or 6 accidents (route, <1000 meters).

Other types of accidents

Accident rates can also be calculated in other specialist areas . The basis is always the quotient of the number of accidents and frequency of use. In the case of accidents at work, the latter corresponds to the number of employees ( ), man hours / years or the working hours in a company or department : ${\ displaystyle A_ {u}}$ ${\ displaystyle MA}$

{\ displaystyle occupational accident rate = {\ frac {A_ {u}} {MA}} \ cdot 100 \, \%}

.

In the case of sports accidents , for example, the number of (e.g. annual) users of a sports facility is set in relation to the number of sports accidents. In aviation , the accident rate is related to the number of aircraft accidents per million flights.

If the numerator of the quotient does not include the absolute number of accidents but the economic accident costs , one speaks of the accident cost rate or accident cost density .

Accident risk

The accident risk is the risk of being involved in an accident. It results from the accident rate. The higher the accident rate, the higher the risk of an accident.

The accident risk can be determined for all modes of transport. In 2000 there were the following deaths while using transport:

Means of transport	Number of deaths 2000	Accident risk 2017 in%
Car	4023	56.64%
motorcycle	964	7.45%
bicycle	635	20.57%
train	247	2.5%
truck	230	2.4%
Moped / moped	810	3.49%
plane	1410	0.9%
bus	2019	1.4%

According to this, the risk of accidents with cars and bicycles is highest, while buses and airplanes have the lowest risk of accidents.

Web links / literature

Wiktionary: Accident risk - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Literature on accident rates in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

↑ Josef Krems, Mark Vollrath: Traffic Psychology: A textbook for psychologists, engineers and computer scientists . Kohlhammer Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-17-020846-9 .
↑ BASt : Accompanying report and supplement to the leaflet 'Determining the effectiveness of traffic control systems' . Final report on FE 03.0425 / 2007 / IGB. 2009.
^ Society for the German Language e. V. (Ed.), Mutterssprache , 1997, p. 128
↑ according to the circular tasks of the Accident Commission in North Rhine-Westphalia from June 2017
↑ IATA Releases 2017 Airline Safety Performance. IATA , February 22, 2018, accessed October 3, 2018 .
↑ Federal Statistical Office , Accident Risk in Germany , July 2017

[1] Josef Krems, Mark Vollrath: Traffic Psychology: A textbook for psychologists, engineers and computer scientists . Kohlhammer Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-17-020846-9 .

[2] BASt : Accompanying report and supplement to the leaflet 'Determining the effectiveness of traffic control systems' . Final report on FE 03.0425 / 2007 / IGB. 2009.

[3] Society for the German Language e. V. (Ed.), Mutterssprache , 1997, p. 128

[4] rding to the circular tasks of the Accident Commission in North Rhine-Westphalia from June 2017

[5] IATA Releases 2017 Airline Safety Performance. IATA , February 22, 2018, accessed October 3, 2018 .

[6] Federal Statistical Office , Accident Risk in Germany , July 2017