Pandemic Brought Out Reckless Driving

The Economist April 3rd, 2021 |Graphic detail Car Accidents|”A dark conundrum” “Americans are driving less, but more are dying in car accidents.”

Image Source APNEWS.COM

See the graphic article for detail and to better appreciate the data in graphic form.

Summary of the article

What the graphs show!

Miles traveled

In 2020 miles traveled in America were down 300 billion miles less from average. From 2016 to 2019 Americans were progressively driving more miles with 2019 at about 100 billion more than average.

Total Deaths

Relative to the 2016-2020 average, 2018 and 2019 were about 1,000 fewer but 2020 was nearly 2,000 more.

The proportion of crashes that involved reckless behavior surged

For California where data is well collated. “California, share of traffic collisions involving… % of Total.

Alcohol and drugs. From 2015 to just before the pandemic the frequency oscillated around 10-12% but peaked at the start of lockdown at more than 14% and then progressively fell to 12%.

Not wearing a seatbelt. Progressively rose from about 2% to nearly 3% just before the start of the pandemic lockdown but then jumped to higher than 4% and has edged lower but been sustained at about 4%.

Failing to stop at a signal. Was around pretty flat around 8% but jumped to about 11% at the start of lockdown and then edged down progressively to just less than 9%.

Speeding-related deaths. Oscillated around 0.9% but jumped to nearly 1.6% at lockdown then fell progressively back to 0.9%.

Rural Vs. Urban

Historically, again using the California data, on a log/log scale in 2019, as an example, there was an inverse relationship such that counties with low population density, like Sierra country, had higher death rates from road accidents at about 10 deaths per 10,000 inhabitants to a low of 0.3 deaths per 10,000 in San Francisco county. When looking at a similar plot in terms of change from 2019 to 2020 the low density areas saw a slight reduction while more populated counties were relatively unchanged.

Author’s points from the text

· 13% fewer miles in 2020 vs. 2019

· 1st nine months of 2020 5% YOY increase in road deaths

· So deaths up despite fewer miles and fewer collisions -24%

o Causes

§ Lower seat belt use

§ Alcohol and drug cite in accident reports

§ Speeding. California and Iowa reported double number of tickets issue for faster than 100 MPH. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reports that “speeds in a number of cities rose by 22%.” Less congestion and traffic enforcement may have loosened inhibitions to travel faster. Essentially urbanites felt more like the rural drivers and floored-it more often.

§ Running red lights