The Danger of Night Driving: 276,000 Accidents and 6,500 Deaths in a Decade

Driving at night on Spanish roads has become perilous due to drowsiness, glare, 'highway hypnosis', and reckless driving. Between 2013 and 2023, there were 276,000 night-time accidents resulting in over 6,500 fatalities, marking a 24.5% increase over the decade. More than half of these accidents occurred before midnight, with side-impact collisions being the most common. This is according to the study 'Night Driving: Risk, Accidents, and Perception of Spanish Drivers (2013-2023)', conducted by the Línea Directa Foundation in collaboration with the Road Safety Foundation (Fesvial), and presented this Tuesday.

Experts warn that night driving reduces the field of vision by 20%, affecting speed perception, signal identification, and peripheral and depth vision. Additionally, glare, which can cause loss of vehicle control over dozens of meters, drowsiness, which can lead to severe accidents, and 'highway hypnosis', which causes a mechanization of driving that slows brain activity, make night driving risky for many motorists.

Although these types of accidents account for only a third of all traffic fatalities, their lethality is much higher than daytime accidents, as they register 55% more fatalities than daytime accidents (1.7% of fatalities over total victims compared to 1.1% for daytime) and qualitatively, 10.5% more serious injuries (7.4% compared to 6.7%). Additionally, between 2013 and 2023, more than 1,500 pedestrians and over 1,300 motorcyclists lost their lives in night-time accidents, representing 24% and 20% of total fatalities, respectively.

The report, which analyzes all night-time accidents recorded over the past decade, is complemented by a survey of 1,700 drivers that captures their opinions and habits regarding night driving.

According to Mar Garre, general director of the Línea Directa Foundation, "night driving presents many more risks than daytime driving, so it is essential to be extremely cautious if we have to drive at night. Simple measures such as keeping windows clean and in good condition, properly adjusting headlights, slightly diverting your gaze in case of glare, or taking regular breaks during long journeys can help us avoid unnecessary risks."

According to the study, the most common victim in this type of accident is a man with an average age of 38 and nearly 20 years of driving experience. The most common vehicle in these accidents is a car, as it is involved in 78% of night-time accidents, which usually occur in urban areas. However, accidents in interurban areas are generally much more lethal due to various factors, notably speed.

In terms of timing, night-time accidents mostly occur at the beginning of the night (before midnight), accounting for 54% of accidents, although they also increase at the end of the night (after 6:00 am), with 22%. However, proportionally, the most lethal accidents occur between 3 and 5 am. Regarding the day of the week, the most critical times are usually Fridays and Saturdays (16% in both cases), while the months with the highest accident frequency are November and December (14% in both months).

The most common accidents are frontal side collisions (20%), rear-end collisions (17%), and pedestrian accidents (12%), while the most severe are cliff falls, head-on collisions, and pedestrian accidents.

By type of occupant, the most common victims are drivers, followed by passengers and pedestrians, although the fatality rates are very different among them. In the case of pedestrians, the fatality rate reaches 4.2% of victims in night-time accidents, compared to 1.6% for drivers and 1% for passengers.

The Línea Directa Foundation also aimed to map night-time accidentality reflecting the proportion of fatal night-time accidents in each territory over the past decade. By autonomous communities, Navarra (5.8%), Castilla-La Mancha (5.1%), and Castilla y León (4.1%) are the regions with the highest proportion. On the opposite side are the Community of Madrid (1.1%), Catalonia (1.3%), and the Basque Country (1.5%). The national average stands at 2.2%.