Why Covid Saw Fewer Fender-Benders But More Traffic Deaths

During the first wave of the Covid pandemic, something disturbing occurred on the empty roads of Virginia. Estimates made in the spring of 2020 found 45% fewer collisions had occurred in the preceding year, if compared with the pre-Covid year ending in the spring of 2019. Yet more drivers had died in crashes. Bizarrely, fatal crashes involving extreme speeding and non-use of seat belts had increased by 78%. The roads had become less congested but also deadlier.

Across the U.S., what happened in Virginia happened in many other states as well. Why? Perhaps it was pandemic rage, a direct consequence of the psychological burden of the pandemic? Or did anti-Covid measures keep the more cautious part of the population off the roads, leaving a riskier group of remaining drivers, with a predictable outcome? Or maybe it had nothing to do with Covid at all — maybe it was a continuation of a pre-existing trend. After all, road fatalities have been climbing in the U.S. for a decade, in part due to bigger vehicles and in part because more drivers are drinking, using drugs, or looking at their phones.