https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/929789
News Release 28-Sep-2021
Study finds less traffic, more speeding and reckless driving
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Ohio State University
With fewer people on the road during the early days of the pandemic, more drivers were speeding and driving recklessly, resulting in more crashes being deadly, a new study found.
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While the total number of collisions declined after the lockdown, the proportion of those crashes that were incapacitating or fatal more than doubled, results showed.
“More of the crashes that did occur were severe, not just because of less congestion, but also because of drivers who were speeding, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” said Jonathan Stiles, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in geography at Ohio State.
Pandemic driving also led to far fewer rear-end collisions and more single-vehicle crashes, findings revealed.
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The results reveal a disturbing fact about urban road design, said study co-author Harvey Miller, a professor of geography at Ohio State.
“This is more evidence that our streets are designed for speed, not safety,” said Miller, who is also director of Ohio State’s Center for Urban and Regional Analysis.
“What is keeping crashes from being more severe during normal times is higher volumes of traffic, and once traffic goes away, people speed and crashes have more serious consequences.”
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