Teletrac Navman big-data analysis of driving behaviors for the initial five weeks of federal COVID-19 emergency
20 May 2020
Teletrac Navman, a global software-as-a-service provider that leverages location-based technology and services for managing mobile assets, has issued a report of driving behaviors across millions of miles driven by a sample of its connected vehicles in the US during the first 36 days of the federal declaration of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data, taken from a national sampling of connected vehicles, found a 20% drop in the average distance driven and several key shifts in driving behavior. Among the findings were:
- 17% increase in speeding
- 10% increase in failures to stop at stop signs
- 15% increase in harsh-cornering events
It wasn’t surprising to see the number of vehicles on the road drop drastically after the emergency and resulting economic slowdown, but it is interesting to see how those remaining drivers behaved with lighter traffic congestion. Fewer vehicles on the road should translate to safer driving conditions; however, these insights reveal that might not be the case.
—Ben Williams, director of marketing, digital and analytics for Teletrac Navman
The data sample covers the period from 13 March 2020, which was the day President Trump signed the emergency declaration, to 17 April 2020. Over that time, each subsequent day registered fewer miles driven on average, but a direct correlation emerged showing more frequent speeding, more harsh turns and more ignored stop signs.
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