COLUMBUS, Ohio – (BUSINESS WIRE) – COVID-19 is far from over, but the impact it has had on our collective leadership skills continues to show itself in significant, sometimes surprising, ways.
According to a new review of more than 6.1 billion miles driven by drivers who completed the Root Insurance test drive (NASDAQ: ROOT), the average American driver used his phone once every 5.5 miles in 2020 ( or 18 times every 100 miles).1 In addition, a national consumer survey of 1,819 American drivers shows that 54% of Americans who drive after a video chat report concentration problems. When professional life became synonymous with home life, COVID-19 created new distractions and challenges for American drivers who sit behind the wheel of a car.
When the world became virtual
A year ago, many of us, who suddenly ran out of friends and family, started to rely heavily on our mobile devices to stay connected.
Most Americans (68%) report that they use their phones more often to multitask, especially those identified as Gen Z (87%) and millennials (88%). This constant reliance on connection devices extends to our cars. Of Americans who drive with a mobile device, 62% say the sound of a call or text message makes them want to check their phones. With 64% of American drivers checking their phones while driving, what does this mean for our roads?
“COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we interact with our vehicles,” said Root Insurance founder and CEO Alex Timm. “As many have abruptly moved to a virtual environment, Americans’ confidence in the technology has increased dramatically along with their screen time, causing most drivers to carry this distracted behavior in their vehicles.”
Altogether, almost two thirds of drivers (64%) report that they check their phones while driving. And the frequency with which they check their phones behind the wheel continues to increase:
|
|
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
|
Checks the phone while driving |
64% |
66% |
58% |
|
Checks in 30 min |
53% |
42% |
36% |
|
15 min checks |
25% |
17% |
16% |
More alarmingly, many drivers are comfortable with this level of distraction. Almost a third (30%) of drivers believe they can be safe when using their cell phones, an increase of 6 percentage points compared to 2020 (24%).
So, what makes this disconnect from reality make Americans feel they can drive safely while using their phones?
2021: Can we stop our bad habits?
With the launch of vaccines underway, Americans are ready to leave their homes and return to some appearance of normal life. But after a year of fighting COVID-19, many may forget or even ignore more common threats, such as distracted driving.
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Almost 1 in 3 drivers (30%) believe they can drive safely while using their phones, especially Gen Z (50%) and millennials (42%)
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On the other hand, among those who perform various tasks or check the phone while driving, 93% believe that it affects the way they drive
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Masks can be a distraction for 41 percent of drivers who keep them in their cars
“Many Americans have improved the use of technology and the ability to multitask during the pandemic, but living room skills don’t translate behind the wheel,” says Timm. “As drivers get back on the road, they must recognize the dangers of false confidence to protect themselves and their passengers.”
The new relationship that many drivers have with their vehicles, combined with the increased dependence on our phones, presents a potentially difficult road ahead. But do not need be like that. Distracted driving is an area where better policies can have a real impact. States with strict enforcement laws related to the use of mobile phones and text messages have significantly less incidences of distraction while driving – with 75% of these states falling below the national baseline for distraction while driving.
To learn more about all the results of Root’s distracted driving search, visit https://www.joinroot.com.
About the survey
Root Insurance’s Distracted Driving Awareness Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,819 North American adult drivers aged 18 or over, nationally, between March 12-17, 2021, using a email invitation and an online survey. The data has been weighted to ensure a reliable and accurate representation of the US adult driver population over the age of 18.
The results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages that express the results. For the interviews carried out in this specific study, the chances are 95 out of 100 that the result of a survey does not vary, more or less, by more than 2.3 percentage points of the result that would have been obtained if the interviews had been carried out with all the people in the universe represented by the sample.
About Customer Analysis
These data are based on an analysis of 6,165,406,024 miles driven by people who completed Root’s test drive in 2020. To be included, each user must have driven for at least 30 miles and provided demographic information from their driver’s license. Only the 29 states where Root was actively selling insurance in 2020 are included in this analysis. These states include Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
About Root
Root Insurance is the country’s first licensed insurance company powered entirely by mobile devices. We were founded on the principle that auto insurance rates should be based primarily on driving behavior, not demographic data. Using mobile technology and data science, Root offers fair and personalized rates for good drivers, all through an easy-to-use application.
Root is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with tenant insurance available in Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, Tennessee and Utah, and auto insurance currently available for drivers in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah , Virginia and West Virginia.
1 Root Insurance analyzed more than 6.1 billion miles driven by people who completed Root’s test drive in 2020. The average driver used his phone 18 times every 100 miles (or once every 5.5 miles).