How stay-at-home orders have affected traffic in California
Lockdown Orders Reduce California Traffic by 60 Percent While the coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot of things in the U.S., not all of them are necessarily bad.
As an example, look no further than California, where stay-at-home orders have made a tremendous impact on the state’s normally-packed roads and highways. Since the state’s stay-at-home order went into effect on March 20, the number of car accidents in California have decreased by half, according to a University of California study.
“The reduction works out to about 15,000 fewer collisions per month and 6,000 fewer injury accidents per month,” says Fraser Shilling, co-director of the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis. Shilling says researchers have determined the drop in collisions “can be directly or indirectly attributed to the shelter-in-place order.”
The drop in traffic accidents should come as no surprise, considering researchers have also determined traffic volume in the state has been down a whopping 60 percent since the order was issued. Susan Handy, a UC professor and director of the National Center for Sustainable Transportation, calls the findings “an important reminder of how hazardous our normal lives have become.”
What changes have you noticed in recent weeks? How much has your lifestyle changed?
