NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released its 2023 American Driving Survey, providing insights into U.S. daily driving trends after the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey reveals that overall driving patterns have rebounded.
"We've looked at some driving habits and seen that those have, for the most part, stabilized since the pandemic," Steward said. "We have also found some safety issues regarding older vehicles and a lot of those are on the road these days."
The percentage of Americans who drove at least occasionally remained steady at 95.3% compared to 2022. Driving trips averaged slightly less than 2.5 per day, with a duration of just over an hour and nearly 30 miles.
"The largest percentage of driving trips were related to running errands, about 31%," Steward said. "Driving to and from work comprised about 22.5% of driving trips."
Older cars are still out there being driven quite a bit.
"According to S&P Global Mobility, the average age of vehicles on U.S. roads is 12.6 years," Steward said. "That's up by two months over last year. When you break out passenger cars from the total, the average age jumps up to 14 years."
That’s 53% higher than back in 2000 when the average age of passenger vehicles was 9.1 years.