Despite the recent coronavirus drastically changing every aspect of our lives, there’s one other change that surprisingly brought light to our mission, and that is--- the reduction of traffic accidents and fatalities ever since the lockdown of multiple cities. A recent study conducted by University of California, Davis, found that traffic accidents have been cut down in half since the order of the state-at-home mandate on March 19.

In California, there were approximately 1,000 collision accidents and 400 injury and fatal accidents per day prior to the mandate. With the mandate in place, the number has been cut down to 500 collisions and 200 injuries or fatal incidents. In addition, the traffic volumes have also gone down by 60 percent. This would also suggest that pollution and other traffic related issues have been directly affected as well, although this would require a longer time frame to study.

Recent times have certainly been challenging for everyone, and It’s easy to get caught up in all the negatives. It’s important to find the good that comes out of every crisis, and focus on the positives rather than the other. While we take this long traffic break, we challenge you to think about all the impacts that result from automobiles, and what we can do to improve them. Utilize this time to reflect on what we can change once we go back to our normal lives, and the changes we can make without a virus putting us in halt. We can make our own changes that save lives.

Source:

Kelley, Alexandra. “New Study Finds Coronavirus Lockdowns Dramatically Cut Traffic Accidents and Fatalities.” The Hill, 3 Apr. 2020, thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/smart-cities/490601-amid-coronavirus-lockdowns-traffic-accidents-in.