Speeding epidemic sparked by coronavirus stay-at-home orders

The coronavirus has left some Americans feeling the need for speed.

With streets emptier than usual, drivers have begun to take more liberties. Stop signs in many neighborhoods have become little more than suggestions, and by at least one key yardstick, speeding is at epidemic proportions.

Across 4,000 camera locations tracked by Verra Mobility, a photo enforcement company, traffic is down 45% but speed violations are up 16%. The number of vehicles going at least 20 miles per hour over the local limit increased 40% in April compared with the same month last year.

In other words, fewer people are on the roads but folks who do venture out are flooring it.

Based on informal observations on a recent afternoon at several corners in the District of Columbia, which is still under a full shutdown order, a third of cars obeyed stop signs, another third slowed down significantly but rolled through the intersections and the remaining third barely broke pace while barreling past the signs with the slimmest of glances to either side.

The Governors Highway Safety Association says fatalities are increasing, not decreasing.

“We’re seeing this kind of lawlessness out there,” said John B. Townsend II with AAA Mid-Atlantic. “Even neighborhood streets have become roads out of the Wild Wild West. We just haven’t seen anything like this before. It’s almost like there’s anarchy on the roadways.”

Police across the country are reporting serious speeding, with some tickets for 130 miles an hour or more.

Part of it is the opportunity.

Previously gridlocked highways now look more like remote interstates in Montana or Wyoming, and motorists are driving as if they are.

The psychology brings numerous guesses.

Pam Shadel Fischer at the Governors Highway Safety Association said a vehicle can give a sense of freedom from stay-at-home orders. “We’re all tired of being pent up, so when you see wide-open pavement, from a psychological standpoint I can go, I can run free,” she said.

Plus, she said, drivers get a sense that police aren’t focusing as much on traffic infractions.

Part of the issue is that drivers often follow the flow of traffic, which helps moderate speeding. Fewer vehicles on the road means no real flow of traffic.

David Eby, a psychologist and head of the behavioral sciences group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, said that works both ways.

Some people are driving faster than they usually would and others are driving slower, depending on how they are reacting to the pandemic.

“Research shows that people experiencing fear, such as a fear of contracting COVID-19, tend to see things as riskier than normal. This could lead people to potentially drive more safely,” he said. “On the other hand, people who are experiencing anger, such as anger about stay-home orders, tend to see things as less risky, which could lead people to drive less safely and break traffic laws.”

Mr. Eby doesn’t see the situation as an “outbreak” of unlawful driving but said people are responding to their instincts.

Still, the stay-at-home orders have created a new normal: fewer vehicles but more pedestrians and cyclists. As drivers adapt, he said, “mistakes will likely be made as people gain experience.”

Psychology also will play a role as the country starts to reopen and more people get back on the roads — possibly.

Ms. Fischer said the best scenario is a natural return to regular traffic, with more drivers slowing down automatically.

“Right now, during the pandemic, this is nuts,” she said.

Police enforcement should also help, the experts said.

Mr. Townsend said drivers’ behavior during the pandemic could pave the way for more photo radar and red-light radar operations.

“What we have to have is greater enforcement and perhaps in the time of coronavirus, if the police can’t be there, it’s a compelling call to install more automatic enforcement,” he said.

Some have predicted a looming carpocalypse, with people avoiding mass transit for months or years and pushing even more traffic onto the streets.

Researchers at Vanderbilt and Cornell universities have studied scenarios ranging from some switching to full ditching of mass transit.

They said the average commute in high-transit cities such as New York and San Francisco could increase 5-10 minutes each way if a quarter of former transit users turn to cars. If three-quarters turn to cars, average San Francisco commute times could more than double to 75 minutes.

Shelia Dunn, a spokeswoman at the National Motorists Association, doubted that. She said shifts from transit to vehicles could be offset by more teleworking or staying home from work altogether.

“I don’t believe there’s going to be a carpocalypse,” she said.

Mr. Eby said other post-coronavirus traffic issues include the thoughts of people who haven’t been behind the wheel much for months. They may be feel out of practice and “driving will seem a little more difficult for a short while,” he said.

Ms. Dunn said she expects traffic to return close to normal and speeds to drop naturally. She added that “anti-car folks” are making too much of coronavirus traffic.

“I think the shaming of motorists is just really outrageous,” she said. “Face it: We need to move people, goods and services, and I think it’s outrageous how the anti-car folks are shaming people.”