As increasingly individuals get their COVID-19 vaccinations, individuals wish to resume their lives and spend a while away from their properties.
Which means we’re returning to the highways.
And it follows there is no such thing as a scarcity of surveys and statistics that remind us in regards to the significance of staying protected whereas we’re behind the wheel.
As an example, it ought to come as no secret that there have been loads fewer miles pushed over the last 12 months than there usually would have been. In Ohio, that works out to a 12.9 p.c lower, in accordance with quotewizard.com.
The common miles pushed per particular person per yr in Ohio earlier than the pandemic hit was 1,206, in accordance with the Seattle-based LendingTree firm that lets shoppers and professionals evaluate insurance coverage quotes.
That dropped to 1,050 throughout the previous yr, or about 156 miles pushed per 30 days. That was the sixteenth best lower within the nation, and a larger than the nationwide numbers, which present a lower of 10.8 p.c.
In our area, Pennsylvania confirmed the third largest decline within the nation, going from a mean of 895 miles pushed a yr pre-pandemic to 743 miles throughout the previous yr, a lower of 17 p.c. West Virginia stood at 14th, with its common of 1,297 miles pushed pre-pandemic dropping to 1,110 throughout the previous yr, a lower of 14.4 p.c.
Delaware’s drop of 38 p.c (1,061 miles pre-COVID-19 to 658) was the biggest within the nation, with Montana’s 0.8 p.c (1,113 miles pre-COVID to 1,104) being the smallest.
¯ Experience.com, in the meantime, stories that Ohio is the fourth-best state total for drivers. The Los Angeles-based website that matches clients with service professionals used a 17-metric system to find out that rating. These metrics are boiled into three subcategories that embrace security, automobile possession and restore prices and infrastructure circumstances. Whenever you do the entire calculations, West Virginia got here in at twenty sixth and Pennsylvania 37.
Iowa tops the general listing whereas California is available in final.
Massachusetts has the bottom site visitors fatality price per capita, Hawaii has the best share of seat belt utilization, South Dakota has the fewest DUI arrests per capita and Vermont has the bottom common automobile restore prices, adopted by Ohio.
Wyoming, in the meantime, has the best site visitors fatality price per capita, New Hampshire has the best price of seat belt utilization, Delaware has essentially the most DUI arrests per capita (with Ohio coming in at forty fifth) and California has the best common automobile restore prices.
¯ One of many best risks to motorists in the present day in distracted driving. A reminder of that comes from AAA East Central, which incorporates the Tri-State Space in its protection.
AAA’s easy message — “Don’t drive intoxicated. Don’t drive intexicated” — is necessary to recollect all yr lengthy, particularly throughout April, which is Nationwide Distracted Driving Consciousness Month.
In keeping with numbers from the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration, 3,142 individuals died in distracted driving accidents in 2019, the final yr numbers have been obtainable, AAA stories.
What makes that such a tricky quantity to assault is that motorists are very inconsistent with their views on distracted driving. In keeping with the AAA Basis for Site visitors Security, whereas 96 p.c of motorists say it is rather or extraordinarily harmful to textual content or e-mail whereas driving, practically 40 p.c mentioned they’d accomplished so throughout the month.
¯ And eventually, simply as it is best to by no means drive whereas distracted, it is best to by no means write whereas distracted.
If you happen to want an instance, look no additional than final week’s column, which ought to have learn that Democrats incumbent Scott Dressel and Royal Mayo will face off for Steubenville’s 4th Ward Council seat within the Might 4 main election.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is government editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Each day Instances.)
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