Just 1 in 25 people got behind the wheel more often in the early months of COVID, but those drivers tended to skew younger and disproportionately male, a traditionally riskier population.
From 2010 through 2019 in New Jersey, these "summer" days, equating to just over 25% of the year, accounted for 29% of deaths in crashes involving teen drivers, including 81 drivers themselves.
AAA Mid-Atlantic on Monday kicked off a multi-year campaign designed to make cell phone use by drivers as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving.
Traffic fatalities are up for four straight years, by a combined 16 percent, for the first time since the 1960s. Distracted driving is a chief culprit.
Traffic deaths in New Jersey are at highest point since 2011. They're up 3 straight years for first time since 1960s. Technology distractions could be the cause.
Government officials say traffic fatalities rose 7.2 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year. That's the largest single-year increase in a half century.