Emptier, safer roads? Data tells a different story.

Roads cleared out at the end of March and through May as the coronavirus outbreak shut down cities. With fewer commutes and most businesses closed, freeways and major thoroughfares were eerily empty. A cross-country drive hit a record fast time: under 27 hours.

But rather than creating a peaceful and calm presence on America’s roadways, the unprecedented emptiness led to riskier driving behavior. It was in some ways less safe on the roads than before, and that’s considering that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recorded 9,378 people killed in speeding incidents in 2018 alone.

Some telling data points come this week from Samsara, a sensor and analytics company plugged into 15,000 vehicles (including some with AI dash cams) that found a 20 percent increase in “severe speeding” during the main pandemic shutdown. Severe indicates drivers going more than 11 mph over the limit. Sensor data also recorded a 40 percent increase in speeding in cities. Looking at the five cities of Atlanta, NYC, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco speeding was double the nationwide 20 percent increase in April.

Now that more vehicles are returning to the road, the dangerous fast driving is returning to pre-COVID-19 levels. It’s expected to dip back down to its usual baseline.But still, it highlights the counterintuitive behaviors on cleared-out streets.

SAE International, an association researching mobility and automotive safety standards, also found the new coronavirus and the shutdowns affected how we got around, like how we nearly stopped using public transit and how more people bought bicycles. The data also demonstrated that it was generally less safe on the streets.

While the number of car crashes went down with fewer cars on the road, an SAE International analysis out last week from head of new mobility Annie Chang and McGill University associate professor Luis Miranda-Moreno found the severity of crashes, including fatal and injury-causing crashes, increased. Looking at New York City data, the researchers found there was a smaller drop in the number of deadly crashes during social distancing compared to the drop of non-fatal incidents. Pedestrians were the most likely to be injured or killed, followed by motorists an bicyclists.

In Connecticut, that same severe speeding Samsara noted was in full effect: 90 percent more cars were driving 15 mph above the speed limit. The state saw a 40 percent increase in fatal crashes compared to this time period last year. Traffic volume was half of usual, too. 

Hopefully slow streets, like those that popped up in New York City and California’s Bay Area dedicated to pedestrians and bicycles during social distancing, can stay in place even as drivers return to the streets.