New survey: Americans spend 290 hours a year driving

American drivers spend an average of more than 290 hours behind the wheel each year, according to a new survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.  

The research finds that more than 87.5% of Americans aged 16 years and older reported driving in the past year. 

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During this time, drivers travelled nearly 10,900 miles on average and spent more than 17,600 minutes on the road.  

 "The amount of time the average driver spends behind the wheel each year is equivalent to seven 40-hour weeks at the office," says Jurek Grabowski, research director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "It's clear that traveling by car remains a central part of American's lives." 

 The American Driving Survey revealed that Americans drove a total of 2.45 trillion miles last year.  That's up 2.4% from 2014.

Men report driving 2,314 more miles than women per year and spend 18% more time behind the wheel.

More than 86% of U.S. households have at least one car for every driver in the home.

28% report having more cars than drivers.

Seniors over the age of 75 drive fewer miles (5,840 annually) than teenagers (7,551 annually). 

Drivers ages 30-49 drive an average of 13,506 miles annually, more than any other age group.

Drivers who report living in rural areas drive more miles (13,029 annually) than drivers who live in cities or towns (10,571 annually).

Drivers in the Midwest and Southern regions drive more (11,295 miles annually) than those in the Northeast (9,328 miles annually).

More than 50% of miles driven by Americans are done in cars, followed by SUVs (20%), pickup trucks (17%) then Vans (7.9%) 

Men report doing a much greater share of their driving in pickup trucks.

Women report doing a much great share of their driving in cars and SUVs.

More than 66% of total driving trips and nearly 62% of total miles driven are done by drivers without a passenger in the vehicle. 

Women are 24% more likely than men to have a passenger in the vehicle on any given trip.

On average, Americans drive the most during the fall (October through December) at 31.5 miles daily and drive the least during the winter (January through March) at 26.2 miles daily.

"This survey drives homes the importance of staying fully focused when behind the wheel," said Susan Hiltz, public affairs director, AAA Michigan. "With the number of motoring miles increasing for drivers across the country, it's even more important to ditch the driving distractions and concentrate on the task of driving safely in Michigan."

 


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