As Covid spread in 2020, fewer drivers hit the road, but traffic fatalities spiked. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 38,680 fatalities in 2020 – the most since 2007 – and preliminary numbers for 2021 indicate another increase.
To understand this trend, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety examined which drivers changed their behavior during the pandemic. The results of an October-November 2020 survey found that while only a small percentage of drivers increased their driving, they were younger, disproportionately male, and generally engaged in riskier driving behaviors.
Of the 4% who increased their driving during the pandemic:
- 51% sped at least 10mph above the limit on residential streets
- 50% read texts while driving
- 45% purposely ran red lights
- 43% changed lanes aggressively
- 21% didn’t always wear seat belts
- 13% drove while impaired by alcohol
These rates are all significantly higher than similar percentages for Americans who drove less or the same amount after COVID.
“Despite safer roads, safer vehicles and stronger traffic safety laws, we’ve still seen more deaths despite less driving,” said Alec Slatky, Director of Public & Government Affairs for AAA Northeast. “What’s absolutely clear is that new action is needed to reduce traffic deaths in this country.”
To combat this trend, states and the federal government are moving toward a Safe System Approach to roadway safety, which proactively leverages countermeasures to create layers of protection for road users, rather than adopting reactive measures once evidence of specific safety issues arises. Last month, the US DOT released a new National Roadway Safety Strategy that utilizes the Safe System Approach, and the Connecticut DOT has organized the Vision Zero Council to take an interagency approach to safety. AAA urges all levels of government to make traffic safety a priority.