COVID-19 impacts speed and safety on Minnesota roads

(ABC 6 News) – Covid-19 has resulted in fewer drivers on Minnesota roads but it has also increased in unsafe road behavior.

Data from automated traffic recordings showed that speeds were higher overall and speeding-related crashes were up 2 to 5 percent over the districts.

Speed-related crashes that have resulted in fatalities were also up 4 to 13 percent.

"We’re doing everything we can at the state level to try to bring speeds back under control that’s with targeted marketing campaigns and increased enforcement waves. But it’s one of those things that have been hard to get back under control, so what we’ve noticed too is a lot of people had this bad habit during the pandemic and the lockdowns and it doesn’t appear that it’s going back to normal conditions," State traffic safety engineer, Derek Leuer said.

Researchers worked with the project’s technical advisory panel to identify 10 rural corridors and five work zones for analysis.