"30% of Highway Debris Accidents Occur from September to November"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] As the number of falling object accidents on highways increases in autumn, insurance payouts are rapidly rising.

On the 16th, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Traffic Climate Environment Research Institute analyzed 65,000 highway falling object accidents from 2017 to last year over the past four years. During this period, the frequency of highway falling object accidents increased by an average of 5.6% per year, and the scale of insurance payouts increased by 15.1%.

By season, the autumn months of September to November accounted for 30.1% of all falling object accidents, and insurance payouts also accounted for 29.7%. The month with the most highway falling object accidents was September, and they were concentrated between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., a time when drowsy driving is likely to occur.

Types of falling object accidents were as follows: single accidents caused by collision with falling objects accounted for 54.0%, secondary collision accidents caused by collision and avoidance of falling objects accounted for 39.4%, and rollover or departure accidents caused by stepping on or avoiding falling objects accounted for 5.2%.

In particular, rollover and departure accidents had a low frequency but the insurance payout per case was 10.22 million KRW, which is 1.71 times higher than the average insurance payout for all falling object accidents, indicating the highest severity. Among secondary collision accidents, rear-end collision accidents also had a relatively high insurance payout per case of 8.95 million KRW.

Based on detailed highway falling object accident data, the behavior and causes of falling objects were analyzed. The falling objects causing accidents were construction materials at 45.8%, transport packaging boxes mainly used for delivery at 17.9%, and containers and drums at 8.9%, in that order.

At the time of the accident, the state of the cargo was falling in 63.1% of all accidents. The cause of the falling objects that triggered the accidents was poor cargo loading measures in 78.2% of cases, highlighting the need to update safety management manuals and strengthen enforcement regarding improper loading measures.

Dr. Kim Tae-ho of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Traffic Climate Environment Research Institute said, "September is a period when highway freight volume surges," adding, "Since falling object accidents also occur most frequently between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., when drowsy driving is common, it is necessary to watch the road ahead carefully and reduce vehicle speed during this time."

He continued, "In situations where falling objects are suddenly discovered or collided with, to prevent severe accidents such as vehicle rollover/departure or rear-end collisions, it is important to minimize excessive sudden steering maneuvers, quickly turn on emergency flashers to prevent secondary and tertiary accidents, move the vehicle to the right shoulder, and report the fallen objects for removal."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.