When drivers collide! (every 9.3 years here)

If your last automobile crash was nine or more years ago, be very, very careful -- especially if the driver of the car next to you is holding a cell phone in one hand and a coffee cup in the other.

[Mike]

There is only one thing worse than no science is a study. Worse is a study that uses BAD science in which thise sounds like was done. Its not how many years one drives, but the mileage one drives in that year.

Also to AVERAGE the numbers can hid things. You can have 5 no wreck drivers and 1 idiot that gets in a wreck every 2 years . Now it looks like everyone is wrecking a car every few years.

[LyingWithStatist ics]

You can make anything out of any statistic you want. This will probably be one to justify raising insurance rates for columbus drivers. Yes a more meaningful stat might be accidents per mile driven. I have lived in Columbus for 22 years and have never had an accident. The other thing is that Columbus is probably a "younger" city than the others in Ohio which would explain the statistic. Would be more interesting to see the data behind it as in drivers 35-45 years old might have a rate of 15 years while drivers 16-22 might have a rate of 1 every 5 years etc.

Again, you can combine and chop the data anyway you want to acheive your desired point. One should take all of these little news bits with a grain of salt.

[JBM]

Mike: That's the whole point of an average - to see how risky we are as a population. A wreck once a decade? That sounds entirely reasonable.

LyingWithStatist : Really good points about age inclusions. That would have been interesting.

[Bo Dark]

Most accidents may be caused by people--or some may be caused by people, but there are actual accidents caused by black ice in the winter, crazy, contorted (and poorly lit) traffic patterns, and mechanical failures or oddities (like driving someone else's vehicle which has no compression when you get off the accelerator when you are used to your car's momentum backing way off when you get off the accelerator.
Not that any of these things have happened to me. I was just thinking...

[DowntownColumbus]

driving is dangerous.

build light rail!!!

[Resident of NR]

I agree sounds like allstate is raising their insurance rates.Insurance companies are a joke. My dad was with the same company for 26 years without a claim. He lets a cousin drive his car which was covered and she wrecked causing 17,000 in damages and they wanted to drop him. I think paying into something for 26 yrs and not having a claim til the 26th year is pretty damn good.

[GEORGEWASHINGTON]

Insurance companies are just like the govt. They rely on the responsible to pay for the mistakes of the stupid and the lazy.