WET WEATHER INJURY ACCIDENTS ON NEW ZEALAND ROADS

The overall accident picture in New Zealand has been analysed in order to establish the types of accidents occurring which are most likely to involve skidding. The accidents are then analysed in depth to evaluate the associated factors--namely vehicle, pavement, seasonal and human. The most significant findings were: The accident rate while raining was four times the fine weather rate. The main types of accidents which were over represented in wet weather due to road surface conditions were head on collisions, rear end, cornering and losing control on straight roads. The types of accidents in (2) were the ones most usually associated with slippery road surfaces and or worn tyres. Collisions with obstructions, rear end and pedestrians were over represented at night during wet weather but not during daytime wet weather. /Author/