A recent analysis of patterns in accident data finds that 29% of accidents happened within one minute of the driver reaching the maximum speed during their trip. The remaining 71% of accidents occurred within the first 10 minutes of reaching maximum speed.

The findings come from Geotab, a telematics technology provider, and are based on data collected over a ten month period from Feb. 1 to Nov. 12, 2016. The objective of the analysis was to explore how accident data patterns and telematics can improve driver safety.

The analysis also looked at speed prior to impact and showed that just over half (51%) of accidents occurred below 40 mph in city driving conditions. In addition, the data was assessed to determine the maximum speed drivers in an accident were going, finding that 32% of vehicles had a maximum speed above 70 mph during the trip in which an accident occurred.  

Geotab also evaluated the time from the start of a trip to a collision. The findings show that 33% of accidents occurred within the first 10 minutes of getting behind the wheel, while the majority (54%) happened within the first 20 minutes of a trip.

Geotab data is derived at aggregate from more than 1 million commercial vehicles in Geotab's data environment with vehicles that range in size from small passenger cars to class 8 heavy-duty trucks.