Abstract |
The spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, has led to
unparalleled global measures such as lockdown and suspension of all
retail, recreation and religious activities during the first months of
2020. Nevertheless, no scientific evidence has been reported so far with
regards to the impact on road safety and driving behavior. This paper
investigates the effect of COVID-19 on driving behavior and safety
indicators captured through a specially developed smartphone application
and transmitted to a back-end platform. These indicators are reflected
with the spread of COVID-19 and the respective governmental
countermeasures in two countries, namely Greece and Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia (KSA), which had the most completed routes for users of the
smartphone applications. It was shown that reduced traffic volumes due
to lockdown, led to a slight increase in speeds by 6–11%, but more
importantly to more frequent harsh acceleration and harsh braking events
(up to 12% increase) as well mobile phone use (up to 42% increase)
during March and April 2020, which were the months where COVID-19 spread
was at its peak. On the bright side, accidents in Greece were reduced
by 41% during the first month of COVID-19-induced measures and driving
in the early morning hours (00:00–05:00) which are considered dangerous
dropped by up to 81%. Policymakers should concentrate on establishing
new speed limits and ensure larger spaces for cycling and pedestrians in
order to enlarge distances between users in order to safeguard both an
enhanced level of road safety and the prevention of COVID-19 spread. |