Hybrid cars linked to a higher risk of a deadly crash according to The Times

Hybrid cars are linked to a higher risk of a deadly crash in the UK according to The Times. This has nothing to do with cats directly obviously! Unless the driver a dear old lady who had a cat! Yes, as I say what affects us, affects cats directly or indirectly.

Old driver of a Yaris from the Yaris World Forum!! Point made.

But I think I have something to say on this matter. It concerns the UK. According to statistics from the Department Of Transport 122 people died in fatal collisions involving hybrid cars during 2024 compared with 777 deaths in crashes involving petrol-only vehicles.

The author of the article, Andrew Ellson (Consumer Affairs Correspondent), mulls over the possibilities as to why there is this large disparity between hybrid cars and petrol cars in terms of deaths.

In terms of pure statistics, hybrid cars are involved in approximately three times as many fatal accidents as petrol cars.

Overall the data shows that there was one death every 8,000 hybrid cars on the roads last year compared with one death every 20,000 diesel vehicles and one death for every 25,000 petrol engines.

The statistics from The Mail On Sunday have alarmed road safety experts. They want an enquiry as to the reasons for this disparity. It may be because hybrid vehicles are more prone to fires than petrol vehicles which I find unbelievable and a red herring.

It may be because hybrids could be harder to drive which is also unbelievable and certainly isn't the reason in my view.

The also speculate as to the complexity of hybrids being more prone to fire problems and these problems to be harder to deal with by firefighters. Once again I find it unbelievable as well.

I am thinking about the Toyota Yaris hybrid while writing this. It's a very popular hybrid vehicle. A small vehicle and very popular with elderly people. Old people like the vehicle because it is highly reliable, has excellent miles per gallon and is very controllable. Plus it is easy to park.

If you see a Toyota Yaris hybrid on the road you will almost certainly see an elderly person driving it, normally a woman.

I would suggest quite strongly that the reason why there are more deaths from hybrid cars is because elderly and very elderly people are driving them. They've lost their driving skills. They have lost their eyesight perhaps. There are more prone to accidents. Many people should no longer be driving on the roads, particularly elderly people because they have lost their ability to drive capably. This is often because of eyesight problems or perhaps coordination problems. They don't want to give up their car. Understandable but they have an obligation to report deficiencies to the DVLA.

I would suggest that it is far more likely the reason why hybrid cars are involved in fatalities more than petrol cars because of the demographics of the drivers concerned. The Times did not mention this obvious possibility which I think it much more plausible than the ones suggested by Andrew Ellson.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.