Car thieves, and people without licenses account for over 10% of all fatal road accidents, a new study shows.
A review at the Institute of Transport Economics (TOI) has studied over 1,800 fatal road accidents in the period 2005 to 2014. It shows that more than 1 in 10 fatalities in traffic happen to a driver with no license, or driving a stolen vehicle.
185 fatal accidents were registered where the driver who caused the accident lacked the right to drive. Among the vehicles involved in crashes were 122 cars, and 49 motorcycles. There were also mopeds, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), snowmobiles, and a tractor.
In addition, there were six accidents where the driver had a license, but the vehicle was stolen.
‘This is serious. It is clear that there is a big problem when so many accidents are triggered by drivers who are not allowed to drive’, said researcher, Fridulv Sagberg of TOI to NRK news.
In more than 80% of fatal accidents involving drivers without a driving license, speeding or intoxication are a contributing factor.
‘A very high percentage of these drivers are drugged, and many were also speeding. Young drivers are over-represented in fatal accidents involving motorcycles’, said Sagberg.
TOI believe that the majority of these fatalities could have been prevented with alco-lock (alkolås) or speed limit controlled vehicles.
Electronic driver authentication, so that only drivers with legitimate access to the vehicle are able to drive it, is a further measure which would reduce the accident rate.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
