Causes of Accidents – There are five basic elements in a traffic accident, namely :-

• Road user
• Vehicle
• Road and its condition
• Traffic
• Environmental factors such as weather, visibility, etc

The road user responsible for the accident. It may be the driver of one or more vehicles involve. Also involve pedestrians or the passengers Vehicles in the accident may also be defective. The condition of the road surface or other existing geometric features. Also effects any of the environmental conditions of the road may not be up to the expectation resulting in accidents. The traffic flow and their characteristics could also cause undue strain on the driver. To sum up, an accident may be cause due to a combination of several reasons and seldom due to one particular reason. Hence it is often not possible to pin point a particular single cause of an accident.

Various causes of accidents may be listed as given below:

Drivers

Excessive speed and rash driving, carelessness, violation of rules. Also effect by regulations, failure to see or understand the traffic situation. As well as sign or signal,  temporary effects due to fatigue, sleep or effect of consuming alcohol.

Pedestrians

Violating regulations, carelessness while using the carriageway meant for vehicular traffic.

Passengers

Alighting from or getting into moving vehicles.

Vehicle defects

Failure of brakes, steering system, or lighting system, tyre burst and any other defect in the vehicles.

Road condition

Slippery or skidding road surface, pot holes, ruts and other damaged conditions of the road surface. Moreover, Temporary obstruction to line of sight (caused by branch of tree or disabled vehicle) resulting in reduction in normal sight distance

Road design

Defective geometric design like inadequate sight distance horizontal or vertical curves. Also, provide improper curve design, inadequate width of shoulders, improper lighting and improper traffic control devices.

Traffic condition

Other vehicles of the traffic stream, such as a vehicle moving ahead getting involved in accident presence of disabled vehicle on the roadway.

Weather

Unfavourable weather condition like mist, for snow, dust, heavy rainfall which restrict normal visibility and render driving unsafe.

Animals

Stray animals on the road.

Other causes

Incorrect sign or signals. Gate of level crossing not close when required. Ribbon development, badly locate advertisement boards or service station, etc.