The widely-held belief that serious one-car accidents are caused mainly by either drunk, speeding or drug-fuelled drivers has been called into question.

Research, published in the Journal of Vehicle Safety, suggests tiredness, greasy roads and lack of experience could just as easily lead to major prangs.

The researchers, Jesper Sandin and Mikael Ljung, made use of DREAM (Driving Reliability and Error Analysis Method) technology to analyse 38 single vehicle crashes vehicles in Gothenburg, Sweden.

As a result they were able to group them into four main categories: driver fatigue; loss of traction caused by greasy roads; loss of control at a bend; and panicked drivers over-steering when trying to avoid trouble.

The researchers said: "Our study demonstrates a methodology that can be used to explain how a combination of factors may increase the risk of single vehicle crashes."

They went on to say the findings would enable car manufactures to incorporate superior sensor detection systems based on lots of various factors that can occur in a single vehicle accident.

With yearly average road accident death tolls over the last ten years of over 3,000 any moves to improve road safety are likely to be welcomed.

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