Think You’re In Your Car More? You’re Right. Americans Spend 70 Billion Hours behind the Wheel

Survey shows an eight percent increase since 2014

Northeast Drivers and Drivers age 75+ See Greatest Increase in Time behind the Wheel 

Hartford, CT (February 27, 2019) – Americans spend an additional 20 minutes driving each week compared to 2014, according to new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. In fact, over the course of the year, Americans collectively spent 70 billion hours behind the wheel - an eight percent increase since 2014.

According to the AAA Foundation survey, which analyzed a number of demographics, drivers in the Northeast saw the greatest percentage increase in time behind the wheel - an average of more than 50 minutes a day – which is up more than 17% since 2014.

“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.

AAA is reminding drivers to stay alert and stay focused on the key task at hand – driving – in an effort to ensure everyone’s safety and minimize risk.

More Seniors Maintaining their Independence

The AAA Survey also found that drivers age 75 and older increased their driving time by a greater percentage than any other age group – spending almost 35 minutes a day behind the wheel - up almost 23% over 2014.

“This mirrors what we are seeing at the AAA Driving School, where enrollment in our AAA Roadwise Mature Driver Improvement classes has skyrocketed,” says Jennifer Shorette, Director of the AAA Driving School. “We’ve also seen increased participation in the CarFit program and other traffic safety offerings for our older drivers”.

AAA Foundation Survey Summary

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.

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.

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:

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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