Although fewer people drove during the first six months of the pandemic, fatal crashes increased, as did risky driving habits such as driving under the influence, according to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
(CNN) -
Covid-19 has forced many Americans to stay home and sit still.
Yet even as fewer people drove during the first six months of the pandemic, riskier driving habits grew, prompting a worrying rise in fatal crashes, preliminary data show.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a report on the driving habits of Americans between March and September 2020 and found some alarming trends.
Deaths from traffic accidents increased, fewer drivers and passengers used their seat belts, and more drivers who were injured in car accidents had drugs or alcohol in their system.
The NHTSA report does not include context on why these dangerous driving trends have occurred during the pandemic, in part because the data it cites is preliminary.
However, it has already launched a social media campaign to reach drivers in states where road deaths increased the most.
These include Louisiana, Michigan, New York, and Texas.
"NHTSA is deeply concerned by the trends in road safety evident in the preliminary 2020 data," the organization told CNN in a statement.
Fewer people drove, but more died in accidents
More people stayed home from March to September 2020 than in the same period in 2019. The number of people who stayed home in the United States peaked at 28.1% in April compared to 19.7 % in April 2019, according to the report.
Despite the fact that there are fewer drivers on the country's roads, a higher proportion of those drivers engaged in risky behavior.
These include, for example, speeding or driving under the influence of substances.
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As a result, deaths on the roads increased.
During the first nine months of 2020, more than 28,190 people died in car accidents, an increase of 4.6% over the same period in 2019, when 26,941 people died, according to another NHTSA report.
Seat belt use decreased
Seat belt use also decreased during the first months of the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, around 78.1% of drivers were wearing seat belts.
Between March and July 2020, that number fell to 71.6%.
Seatbelt use by passengers declined further.
It went from 75.4% before the pandemic to 59.2% between March and July 2020. However, for both drivers and passengers, seatbelt use increased slightly between the end of July and September 2020.
Infrequent seatbelt use likely resulted in more car occupants being thrown out of vehicles in accidents.
Between March and September, this happened in about one in every 100 crashes to which emergency services responded.
Cases of people being thrown from vehicles peaked in April with 1.5 cases per 100 crashes requiring emergency services.
That figure is more than double the April 2019 rate, the NHTSA said.
Speeding increased
Average speeds also increased on urban and rural roads during 2020. On average, speeds increased 22% in certain metropolitan areas during the pandemic, according to the report.
The existence of a large gap in driver speeds on the same highway, a phenomenon known as speed dispersion, is often correlated with a higher probability of crashes, the NHTSA reported.
More injured drivers had drugs or alcohol in the system
A study of fatal or serious injuries among road users found that two-thirds of drivers had at least one drug in their system at the time of the accident.
This included alcohol, marijuana or opioids, according to the report.
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That may have something to do with the increase in alcohol and drug sales during the pandemic, according to the report.
From July to September, alcohol sales increased about 20% over the previous year, according to the report.
In Colorado and Oregon, sales of legal marijuana increased 38% and 45% respectively compared to the prior year.
NHTSA urges drivers to stay safe
In an open letter, the agency pleads with drivers to stop risking their lives behind the wheel to prevent further pressure from police and emergency responders.
"Law enforcement and the emergency medical services community across the country have made their road safety a priority, but they are already on edge and at risk," NHTSA said.
"Please don't overload them with your bad driving decisions," he added.
In the context of the pandemic that continues into 2021, the administration asked drivers to continue to wear their seat belts, obey speed limits and drive sober to "reverse the terrible trend of 2020."
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