Car crashes down in Connecticut, fatal crashes not as much

The total number of car crashes in Connecticut dropped considerably during the pandemic, but the total number of fatal crashes did not.

In fact, there were more fatal car crashes in Connecticut in both April and June of 2020, than the average over the previous three years, according to a Hearst Connecticut Media Group analysis.

There were 63,311 total car crashes in Connecticut between January and October, based on data pulled from the UConn Crash Data Repository.

Over the previous three years there were an average of 93,116 car crashes per year, 30,000 fewer than there were in 2020.

On average between 2017 and 2019, there were 230.6 fatal crashes January through October. In 2020, there were 195 fatal car crashes in the same time period.

The number of fatal crashes in 2020 exceeded the previous three-year average in both April — when there were 23 car crashes, compared to an average of 22 — and June — when there were 27 crashes in 2020, compared to an average of 26.

It’s a phenomenon that Eric Jackson and his colleagues have been studying.

During the pandemic, “Hospitals have seen an increase in vehicle-related trauma,” he said.

Emptier roads, faster cars

Jackson, executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute and director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center, said that while the number of cars on the roads have decreased, resulting in fewer crashes overall, drives have been driving faster.

“Traffic volumes due to COVID are way down,” he said. “We saw corresponding dramatic increases in vehicle speeds. We think that these increases in speeds caused crashes to become more severe.”

One study released in October by Jackson’s colleagues showed that car crashes have more often involved fewer cars during periods of pandemic-related lockdowns.

“Single vehicle crash rates significantly increased 2.29 times, and specifically single vehicle fatal crash rates significantly increased 4.10 times when comparing the pre-stay-at-home and post-stay-at-home periods.”

That makes sense to Fran Mayko, a local spokesperson for AAA.

Less people on roadways may mean less crashes but less people on roadways also means drivers have a greater ability to speed. As a result, speeding will definitely contribute to a more deadly crash when it occurs,” she said. “also suspect drivers feel they can go faster on roads nowadays because there’s less congestion, less gridlock, less drivers. Unfortunately, final outcomes will be deadlier because your chances for a fatal crash increase dramatically when you speed.”

During a virtual event held Wednesday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Dr. Tara KelleyBaker said the roads “are in fact much lighter and there is a lot more road space.”

“More space affords them more opportunities to engage in risky behaviours like speeding and extreme speeding,” she said.

A survey conducted by AAA of drivers in Connecticut confirmed what many local residents already knew, that speeding is common.

One out of every 24 drivers on I-95 in Norwalk drove faster than 75 miles-perhour in November, 2020 — one in 97 drove 5 miles-perhour faster than that.

One out of 10 drivers drove faster than 75 milesper-hour on Route 15 in Hamden in November of this year, according to AAA.

Stress and drunken driving

Speeding only tells a part of the story, according to Jackson.

“We think there may be mental health/workload issues at play as well,” he said. “People are very stressed out due to COVID and making ends meet as shutdowns have put many out of work.”

That increase in stress may be resulting in an increase in drunken and drugged driving, contributing to an increase in the severity of car crashes.

“There may be more impaired drivers driving as the pandemic continues and restaurants are closed or provide takeout options,” Jackson said.

A September study from the Rand corporation showed that people are drinking about 14 percent more this year than they were in 2019, with online alcohol sales in particular seeing an increase. Several studies have shown that opioid use is up during pandemic.

This does not, however, mean for sure that more people are driving under the influence, or that more severe car crashes are the result. Jackson said more research is necessary to determine if there is causation, in addition to causation.

“We are looking into all of these as we get better data and crash reports are updated from police departments as they receive toxicology data,” he said.