When, where and how much motorists drive

On average, Americans drive 29.2 miles per day, making two trips with an average total duration of 46 minutes. This and other revealing data are the result of a study currently underway by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the Urban Institute.

The Foundation’s new American Driving Survey offers the most up-to-date, comprehensive look at how much Americans drive on a daily and yearly basis. First-year data is available now from the ongoing study, which will set the benchmark for future data and ultimately reveal trends in Americans’ driving habits.

The first-year results of the American Driving Survey revealed that:

• Motorists age 16 years and older drive, on average, 29.2 miles per day or 10,658 miles per year.
  
  
• Women take more driving trips, but men spend 25 percent more time behind the wheel and drive 35 percent more miles than women.
  
  
• Both teenagers and seniors over the age of 75 drive less than any other age group; motorists 30-49 years old drive an average 13,140 miles annually, more than any other age group.
  
  
• Drivers who reported living “in the country” or “a small town” drive greater distances (12,264 miles annually) and spend a greater amount of time driving than people who described living in a “medium sized town” or city (9,709 miles annually).
  
  
• Americans drive, on average, the least during winter months (January through March) at 25.7 miles daily; they drive the most during the summer months (July through September) at 30.6 miles daily.

This is the first ongoing study that provides a look at when and how much Americans are driving. Existing federal data with this level of detail was last released in 2009, eight years after the previous release. This substantially limits the extent to which we can use existing data to draw conclusions about Americans’ current driving habits.

Results from the American Driver Survey were based on telephone interviews with a nationwide sample of 3,319 drivers who reported detailed information about all their driving trips taken the day before the interview. Data collection is ongoing. Learn more at www.aaafoundation.org.