drowsy driving

July 18, 2022

Maryland Motor Vehicle Accident Fatalities Up During COVID-19 Pandemic

In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer vehicles were on our nation’s roadways, as people worked from home, schools and businesses closed their doors, and states issued stay-at-home orders and other emergency restrictions. Now, two-and-a-half years into dealing with the coronavirus, professionals are returning to their offices, schools are back to onsite learning, businesses have resumed operations, and public health restrictions have eased or been lifted.

If life is getting back to normal, then why are motor vehicle accident fatality rates the highest they’ve been in years? This disturbing national trend can be seen here in Maryland, where 255 auto accident deaths have already occurred as of July 1, 2022, according to Zero Deaths Maryland.

June 29, 2020

Maryland Motorists: Are Your Driving Skills Rusty Due to COVID-19 Isolation?

by Jeff Butschky

Many residents of Maryland kept their cars in park the last few months, due to statewide shutdowns of businesses and schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that restrictions are being lifted as the state slowly gets back to business, some motorists may find their driving skills have become rusty.

If you’re one of those Maryland drivers who’s feeling a little out of sorts behind the wheel, you’re not alone. The last few months of coronovirus restrictions saw a vast reduction in daily commutes and road travel. Now, with Maryland businesses reopening and people moving about more freely, drivers getting back behind the wheel may fall into old, bad driving habits. This, combined with sharing the road with new teenage drivers, could lead to increased motor vehicle accidents this summer.

What’s worse? A majority of motorists admit to knowing dangerous driving habits are wrong, but too many engage in them anyway. The AAA Foundation has released its findings from a national survey on the top dangerous driving offenses for 2019. To learn more about those—and the percentage of motorists admitting to them—read on….
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February 28, 2018

Drowsy Driving in Maryland : Study Says Sleepy Drivers as Dangerous as Drunk Drivers

by Jeff Butschky

Have you ever gotten behind the wheel when you actually felt too tired to drive? Even the most cautious drivers may, on occasion, power through the need to sleep and put pedal to the metal — just to get where they need to go. That’s what hot coffee, a loud radio, and a blast of cold fresh air are for, right?

Drowsy driving in Maryland is more common than we’d like to think. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe to do so. A new AAA study finds that drowsy driving may in fact be as dangerous as drunk driving, potentially leading to serious and even fatal car accidents.

CBS News reports that while federal sources estimate drowsiness as a factor in one to two percent of motor vehicle crashes — a study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Safety found that number to be much higher. When researchers studied 700 crashes on tape, they found drowsy driving to be a factor in 10 percent of motor vehicle accidents.

Are you getting enough sleep to safely get behind the wheel and drive?