Accident prone: When accidents happen

True or false: You're more likely to be involved in a serious car accident involving death or injury in the winter when roads are slick and driving tricky?

False. According to the last (that we could find online that is) Road Safety in Canada* report, serious collisions are on average most likely to happen in August.

Surprised? So were we, and you'll likely continue to be surprised when you learn more about the peak times and places for serious car collisions.

Take the test. When do you think collisions are most likely to happen?

• Storm days versus clear weather?
  Clear weather has this one hands down. Approximately four out of five collisions occur in clear weather on dry road surfaces.



• Mondays versus Saturdays?
  Saturdays. The most accident-prone days of the week are Saturdays and Fridays. The safest are Tuesdays and Sundays.



• Rush hour versus any other time of the day?
  This one likely comes as no surprise. The peak time of day for collisions is between 3 pm and 6 pm.

Collisions in Canada

Every day in Canada there are 1,810 motor vehicle collisions. The good news is that most are not "serious". In fact, according to the Road Safety report, over 77 per cent of all collisions involve property damage only.

How might a collision affect your insurance?

How an accident affects your insurance will depend on whether you were at-fault (even partially) or not at-fault.

An at-fault accident can be costly. Consider our example: Using a 35-year old driver of a 2009 Toyota Corolla in Calgary and Ottawa, the lowest available online car insurance quote was recorded for each location. We then layered in a not at-fault accident (to show you how this does not affect the rates you get) and an at-fault so you could see how your insurance rates could increase.

Like accidents, tickets can also affect your rate. Read, "Traffic tickets, fender-benders and your insurance" for more information, or see for yourself and compare car insurance quotes today.

* Road Safety in Canada - 2005, released in April 2008. Note: this study mostly looked at collisions of a serious nature, involving death and injuries.