7,674 CRASHES IN
CONNECTICUT, CT
APRIL 2015

Of the 19 fatalities and 2,476 injuries, motorists comprised the largest group, with 18 killed and 2,377 injured. Vulnerable road users were also impacted; one pedestrian was killed and 77 were injured. Additionally, 21 cyclists were injured, though none fatally.

Crash frequency peaked midweek, with Wednesday recording the highest number of incidents at 1,359. The most common time for a crash was during the afternoon commute, with the 4 PM hour seeing 720 crashes. A significant majority of crashes, 5,997 or 78.1%, occurred during daylight hours.

The majority of crashes, 76.4% (5,863 incidents), resulted in no injuries and involved only property damage. Crashes involving some level of injury accounted for 23.3% of the total, distributed among possible (1,064), minor (649), and serious (79) injury categories. There were 19 fatal crashes, which corresponds to the 19 total fatalities recorded during this period.

The data indicates that most crashes occurred in ideal driving conditions, with 79.6% happening in clear weather and 82.6% on dry road surfaces. Similarly, 78.1% of all crashes took place during daylight hours. Crashes in adverse conditions were less frequent, with 840 incidents occurring during rain and 1,224 on wet roads.

Among the 19,090 individuals involved in crashes, the 26-34 age group was the most represented, accounting for 3,090 people. An analysis of the 14,523 vehicles involved shows that Honda, Toyota, and Ford were the most frequent makes recorded in crash reports. Specifically, combining abbreviated and full names, Honda models were involved in 1,691 instances, Toyota in 1,492, and Ford in 1,412.

The 25 mph speed zone saw the highest number of crashes, with 2,219 incidents, representing 28.9% of the total where speed limits were recorded. While lower speed zones had more crashes, the percentage of those crashes that were fatal tended to increase with speed. For instance, while 0.18% of crashes in 25 mph zones were fatal, this figure rose to 0.68% for crashes in 45 mph zones and 0.57% in 55 mph zones.

Fairfield County recorded the highest volume of crashes with 2,275 incidents, accounting for 29.6% of the statewide total. New Haven County followed with 2,133 crashes (27.8%), and Hartford County had 1,918 crashes (25.0%). Together, these three counties were the location for over 82% of all crashes in the state during this period.

The highest concentration of crashes at the municipal level occurred in New Haven, which saw 567 incidents, or 7.4% of the state's total. Hartford was second with 506 crashes (6.6%), followed by Stamford with 388 crashes (5.1%). Waterbury (376 crashes) and Bridgeport (359 crashes) also ranked among the top five cities for crash volume.

Based on the subset of crashes where road class was recorded, Minor Arterial roads saw the highest number of incidents with 286. Combined, limited-access highways such as Interstates (188 crashes) and Freeways/Expressways (121 crashes) accounted for 309 incidents in this dataset. Local roads accounted for 271 crashes.

Analysis of roadway jurisdiction shows a split between state-maintained and local roads. State-maintained routes (including Interstate, US, and State routes) were the location for 4,077 crashes. Local roads accounted for 3,083 crashes, indicating that local municipalities manage roadways where a significant portion of traffic incidents occur.

Of the crashes where roadway ownership was documented, the vast majority (7,050 incidents) occurred on public roads. A smaller but notable number of crashes, 319, took place on private property such as parking lots or private drives. This represents 4.3% of the crashes with known ownership data.

In the subset of 1,272 crashes with a rural or urban designation, the vast majority (1,140) occurred in urban areas. Crashes in designated rural areas were far less common, accounting for 132 incidents, or 10.4% of this specific subset.

The majority of crashes, 5,164 incidents, did not occur at an intersection. Of the crashes that did happen at a junction, four-way intersections were the most common location with 1,237 incidents, followed by T-intersections with 1,050. Overall, 32.3% of crashes with junction data occurred at some type of intersection.

Among crashes involving a vehicle striking a fixed object, the most commonly hit object was a guardrail face, involved in 183 incidents. This was followed by other fixed objects like walls or buildings (156 incidents) and utility poles or light supports (149 incidents). Collisions with utility poles and trees combined accounted for 244 separate run-off-road crashes.

Passenger cars were the most common vehicle type involved in crashes, accounting for 9,417 of the vehicles recorded. Sport Utility Vehicles (2,329) and Pick Up trucks (937) were the next most frequent. The data also includes 338 medium or heavy trucks, 97 motorcycles, and a combined 141 buses of various types.

Data on a per-vehicle basis shows that the majority of vehicles involved in crashes (9,507) were in areas with no traffic control device present. For crashes at controlled locations, traffic signals were the most common type of control, with 3,603 vehicles involved at signalized intersections. An additional 965 vehicles were involved in crashes at locations with a stop sign.

There were 202 crashes involving a motorcyclist, pedestrian, or bicyclist. Of these, 107 incidents (53%) involved a vulnerable road user, comprising 79 pedestrians and 28 bicyclists. Motorcyclists were involved in the remaining 95 crashes in this category.

Among contributing actions cited for drivers, following too closely was the most frequent, noted in 2,309 instances. The next most common actions were failing to keep in the proper lane (1,069 instances) and failing to yield the right-of-way (741 instances). Improper backing (463) and running off the roadway (282) were also significant contributing factors.

While most drivers were recorded as 'Apparently Normal,' a number of adverse conditions were noted. Being under the influence of medications, drugs, or alcohol was documented for 209 drivers. An additional 135 drivers were noted as being asleep or fatigued, and 102 were listed as emotional.

The most common pre-crash action for vehicles involved was driving straight ahead, which was the case for 6,462 vehicles. A significant number of vehicles were either stopped in traffic (1,620) or slowing (1,061) just prior to the collision. Turning left was the fourth most common pre-crash maneuver, recorded for 1,020 vehicles.

Frontal impacts were the most common, with 7,130 vehicles struck in the front quadrant (Sectors 11, 12, and 1). Rear impacts were the second most frequent, with 4,348 vehicles hit in the rear quadrant (Sectors 5, 6, and 7). This aligns with the prevalence of front-to-rear collisions.

Among the 112 pedestrians and cyclists for whom an action was recorded, 62 were determined to have taken no improper action. For those where an improper action was noted, 'Dart/Dash' into the roadway was the most common, cited in 14 instances. This was followed by 'Failure to Obey Traffic Signs, Signals, or Officer' (11 instances) and 'Failure to Yield Right-Of-Way' (9 instances).

Front-to-rear collisions were the most prevalent crash type, accounting for 2,981 incidents, or 38.8% of all crashes. Angle collisions were the second most common type with 1,342 incidents (17.5%), followed by sideswipes in the same direction, which occurred in 1,043 crashes (13.6%).

The data includes 19,090 persons involved in crashes, with the majority being drivers (13,645, or 71.5%). Passengers constituted the second-largest group with 4,478 individuals (23.5%). The records also include 86 pedestrians and 28 bicyclists involved in these incidents.

Of the 19,090 people involved in crashes, 2,476 individuals (13.0%) sustained some level of injury, ranging from possible to serious. A total of 19 individuals, representing 0.1% of all persons involved, suffered fatal injuries. The vast majority of people, 15,879, were not injured.

Among vehicle occupants where restraint use was documented, 13,402 were reported to have used a shoulder and lap belt. However, 341 occupants were recorded as using no restraint system at all. This represents 2.2% of occupants with known restraint use who were unrestrained at the time of the crash.

The most common type of crash involved two vehicles, accounting for 5,833 incidents or 76.0% of the total. Single-vehicle crashes were the next most frequent, with 1,389 incidents (18.1%). Multi-vehicle collisions involving three or more vehicles were less common, with 452 such crashes recorded.