The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s American Driving Survey quantifies daily driving habits in the U-S, and the most recent survey reveals some interesting trends: that 20– to 34-year-old drivers and those who are not college-educated drove longer distances and logged the most daily miles in 2020 and 2021 because they likely had limited work-from-home options.
On the other hand, college-educated drivers, a group that previously drove longer and farther pre-pandemic than their younger counterparts, have now significantly reduced their time and distance behind the wheel thanks to remote work options.
“COVID-19 certainly has had a profound impact on commuter travel,” said Diana Gugliotta, Director of Public Affairs for AAA Northeast. “And after a dramatic decrease in travel and commuting in 2020, drivers returned to the road in a big way in 2021 and 2022.”
The Foundation survey also confirmed a driving anomaly: while fewer people hit the road during the pandemic, there’s been a significant rise in the number of people killed on our roadways.
These findings are in line with reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration– the federal agency that tracks motor vehicle crashes nationwide–that indicate traffic fatalities increased in mid- 2020 and continued to rise in 2021, making for the deadliest year on the roads since 2005, and due to a number of factors, including speeding and impairment.
“The survey also indicates our ‘go-to’ fixes for crash and injury prevention aren’t working like they used to,” said Ms. Maguire. “That means to turn the tide on US traffic deaths, traffic safety experts must identify driving solutions targeting demographics overrepresented in crashes.”