Safety is one of the top considerations on everyone’s list when it comes to automotive engineering and design. So it is interesting to know what drivers in the rear world are up against, as the crash simulations—digital and physical—are one thing, but being out there is something else entirely.

CarInsurance.com has reported on what they’ve found reported when people are shopping for car insurance. The data comes from more than 42,000 insurance shoppers:

• Struck another car: 22.7%
• Another car struck me: 22.2%
• Single-car accident: 7.9%
• Act of nature: 5.8%
• Struck parked car or tree: 5.4%
• Car struck while parked: 5.0%
• Debris or other non-accident damage (e.g., hitting a pothole): 2.9%
• Vandalism: 2.4%
• Struck animal: 2.4%
• Windshield or glass: 2.2%
• Theft of car/theft of parts: 1.5%
• Hit a pedestrian: 0.4%

What’s interesting to note is that there is a considerable amount of work being done to mitigate pedestrian collision via sensor arrays, braking systems, and the design of fascias and hoods, yet it is a comparatively infrequent event vis-à-vis the other things that are occurring. Of course, if you or yours happen to be the pedestrian in question. . . .

And what might the countermeasures be against “Act of nature”?