If you think you’re spending more time in your car, you’re right. Americans collectively spent 70 billion hours behind the wheel in 2016-2017 – an 8 percent increase since 2014-2015, according to new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Each week, drivers travel more than 220 miles. Add it up and Americans drive an average of 11,498 miles each year- the equivalent of making two roundtrip drives from San Francisco to Washington, D.C.
“The more time drivers spend behind the wheel, the greater their exposure to risks on the roadway,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Longer time behind the wheel could lead to issues such as fatigue, distraction, and impatience for drivers, which are all contributing factors for vehicle crashes. Drivers need to stay alert and focused on the key task at hand, driving. This can save your life and the lives of your passengers and people with whom you share the road.”
The AAA Foundation’s American Driving Survey shows that on average, U.S. drivers spend nearly an hour behind the wheel each day and travel 31.5 miles – a five percent increase from 2014.
|
Driving Data Point |
2014-2015 |
2016- 2017 |
Percent change |
| Number of driving trips/day |
2.16 |
2.22 |
2.8% (+) |
| Time spent driving (minutes)/day |
48.0 |
51.0 |
6.3% (+) |
| Number of miles driven/day |
29.9 |
31.5 |
5.4% (+) |
| Driving Population (millions) |
222.2 |
225.8 |
1.6% (+) |
Other survey findings show that:
Driving Population
- The U.S. “driving-aged” population (i.e., ages 16 and older) increased every year between 2014 and 2017.
- The number of drivers in the United States increased by a statistically significant 3.6 million, from 222.2 million in 2014-2015 to 225.8 million in 2016-2017.
Demographics
- Men spend 19 percent more time behind the wheel and drive 27 percent more miles than women.
- People who are married or living with a partner spend at least 12 percent more time driving than those who are not.
- Drivers aged 75+ are spending, on average 34.8 minutes a day driving – a 23 percent increase from 2014.
Region
- Drivers in the West spend the most time driving (58.9 minutes per day), followed by drivers in the Northeast (51.1 minutes), South (49.9 minutes) and Midwest (44.5 minutes) regions.
- The number of individuals who report driving in the Midwest region dropped three percent, while the number of drivers in the Northeast, South and Western regions increased or remained the same.
The new results are part of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s American Driving Survey, which reveals the driving habits of the American public. The survey data are from a representative sample of 11,804 drivers who provided information about their driving on randomly selected days between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2017.
About AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: Established in 1947 by AAA, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a nonprofit, publicly funded, 501(c)(3) charitable research and educational organization. The AAA Foundation’s mission is to prevent traffic deaths and injuries by conducting research into their causes and by educating the public about strategies to prevent crashes and reduce injuries when they do occur. This research is used to develop educational materials for drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists and other road users. Visit www.AAAFoundation.org.
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