New road conditions alter driving risks

Fleet video telematics provider Lytx shared insights about changes in driving risks tied to COVID-19:

Photo courtesy of Lytx

Animal strike incidents increased dramatically. Lytx data shows a 64 percent increase in animal strikes since shelter-in-place guidelines were widely introduced. With more people at home, Lytx says, animals were venturing out of their usual spaces.

• Strikes peak between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. during low light conditions.
• 73 percent of all animal strike incidents occur at 55 mph or higher.
• Compared to the same time period last year, strikes occurred 2.5 times more frequently during daylight hours.

Risky driving behaviors decreased. From the week of March 1, before most states initiated shelter-in-place orders, to the week of March 29, when shelter-in-place had been broadly instituted, Lytx data shows a 51 percent decrease in frequency and a 55 percent decrease in severity of risky driving incidents across all Lytx-protected fleets.

Compared to the same time period last year, the trucking industry saw these reductions in risky driving behaviors:

• Late response: down by 62 percent.
• Failure to keep an out: down 28 percent.
• Collisions: down by 28 percent.
• Avoidable near collisions: down by 25 percent.
• Unavoidable near collisions: down by 23 percent.

“With the majority of people across the country observing shelter-in-place guidelines – and driving less – it’s natural we’d see decreases across these types of risk,” says Kyle Warlick, client intelligence analyst at Lytx.

Speed increased and travel time decreased. Data from the end of March to early May shows a 19 percent increase in speed and a 10 percent decrease in travel time on frequently traveled routes.

“This is likely another result of decreased passenger vehicle traffic on the roads, and increased demand on drivers to deliver essential goods,” says Warlick.

Source: Lytx database made up of 120 billion miles of driving data collected from 1.3 million drivers using Lytx DriveCam event recorders.