Americans spend an additional 20 minutes driving each week compared to 2014, according to new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Over the course of the year, Americans collectively spend 70 billion hours behind the wheel—an 8 percent increase since 2014. 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.
There are several factors contributing to the increases, including higher vehicle ownership, lower gas prices and aging highway infrastructure, which can contribute to more traffic delays
One negative consequence of more time behind the wheel is greater crash risk.
“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 most recent survey examined data from 2014-2017, the latest available. The amount of time driving per day increased, with U.S. drivers spending nearly an hour (51 minutes) behind the wheel. The average number of daily miles driven was 31.5, more than a 5 percent increase since 2014.
Other survey findings show that:
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 34.8 minutes a day driving on average—a 23 percent increase from 2014.
Regionally
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.
AAA
