Research finds increase in car crashes with decrease in traffic during pandemic
Willimantic, CT (11/11/2020) — Mitchell Doucette, assistant professor of health sciences at Eastern Connecticut State University, in collaboration with eight other researchers, has published new research on how Governor Lamont's initial COVID-19 stay-at-home order impacted motor vehicle crash rates in Connecticut. The research, titled "Initial Impact of COVID-19's Stay-at-Home Order on Motor Vehicle Traffic and Crash Patterns in Connecticut: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis," is published in the latest edition of Injury Prevention journal.
"We compared motor vehicle crash rates before and after the March 23 stay-at-home order," said Doucette. "We found that single-car crash rates overall and single car crash rates that involved a fatality increased significantly in the initial period of the stay-at-home order (March 23-April 30), after accounting for large drops in traffic volume. Overall, the single crash rate increased more than two times while the fatal, single car crash rate increased around four times."
Doucette said additional sensitivity analyses comparing previous years to 2020 suggests that the increase in crash rates is likely wholly due to the COVID-19's associated stay-at-home order.
"We believe that an increase in speeding likely drove these findings, consistent with previous news media reports of increased speeding among motorists and reduced police presence on roadways during the initial stage of the pandemic."
Doucette said it is essential to understand how COVID-19 associated stay-at-home orders have impacted motor vehicle crashes in order to prevent future unintentional injuries and fatalities.
"During emergency situations that involve sheltering in place, or even future stay-at-home orders, Connecticut and other states should consider implementing strategies to prevent single car crashes, such as introducing traffic calming measures or increasing police presence on roadways. These strategies can potentially reduce the number of injuries on our roadways during similar, future events."
For more on Doucette's research, visit: https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2020/10/28/injuryprev-2020-043945
Written by Dwight Bachman
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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving 5,000 students annually at its Willimantic campus and satellite locations. In addition to attracting students from 162 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 34 other states and 19 countries. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 65 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal art foundation grounded in an array of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 30 public universities in the North Region by U.S. News and World Report in its 2019 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 10 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.
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