Minor crashes are even more frequent than the article estimates. Thus, the real human accident rate is even higher. Probably between 1 in every 24000 and 87000 miles.
The VTI driving study[1] equipped 100 cars with sensors and was therefore able to measure all crashes experienced. It directly measured 1 crash per 24000 miles. If we extrapolate based on the 17.4% police report rate, that suggests 1 per 87000 miles.
That's an interesting study. I'd be cautious at trying to create a one-line conclusion from it. It is, however, a fascinating full read, and not very long and not very technical, so I'd encourage people to read the whole thing.
Note the narrow demographic data and geographic data.
The VTI driving study[1] equipped 100 cars with sensors and was therefore able to measure all crashes experienced. It directly measured 1 crash per 24000 miles. If we extrapolate based on the 17.4% police report rate, that suggests 1 per 87000 miles.
[1]http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20A...