California’s stay-at-home order reduced vehicle collisions on roadways by a little more than half, saving taxpayers an estimated $1 billion since the order went into effect, according to a UC Davis survey that estimated the impact of the order on traffic.
“The savings was about $40 million a day … That’s about $15 billion over a one-year period, which is almost the size of the state portion of California’s transportation budget for a year,” said Fraser Shilling, co-director of the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis.
The survey used data from California Highway Patrol incident reports, and the costs saving was calculated by using equivalent data from the Federal Highway Administration. Costs include property damage, treatment of injuries, lost time at work and emergency responses, among other costs.
A reduction in traffic crashes was expected as people limited their vehicular travel to work, getting food and other essentials.
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