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AAA: Drivers Spend More Than 290 Hours Behind The Wheel Each Year

DEARBORN (WWJ) - Hopefully the driver's seat in your car is comfy.

According to a new report by AAA, drivers spend more than 290 hours behind the wheel each year, on average. The research finds that nearly 88 percent of Americans aged 16 years and older reported driving in the past year -- and during this time, drivers traveled nearly 10,900 miles on average and spent more than 17,600 minutes on the road, according to the study.

"The amount of time the average driver spends behind the wheel each year is equivalent to seven 40-hour weeks at the office," Jurek Grabowski, research director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, said in a statement. "It's clear that traveling by car remains a central part of American's lives."

The American Driving Survey is the most current look at how much Americans drive on a daily and yearly basis. It revealed that:

• Americans drove a total of 2.45 trillion miles last year (up 2.4 percent from 2014)
• Men report driving 2,314 more miles than women per year and spend 18% more time behind the wheel.
• More than 86 percent of U.S. households have at least one car for every driver in the home; 28 percent report having more cars than drivers.
• Seniors over the age of 75 drive fewer miles (5,840 annually) than teenagers (7,551 annually).
• Drivers ages 30-49 drive an average of 13,506 miles annually, more than any other age group.
• Drivers who report living in rural areas drive more miles (13,029 annually) than drivers who live in cities or towns (10,571 annually).
• Motorists in the Midwest and Southern regions drive more (11,295 miles annually) than those in the Northeast (9,328 miles annually).
• More than 50 percent of miles driven by Americans are done in cars, followed by SUVs (20 percent), pickup trucks (17 percent), and vans (7.9 percent).
• Men report doing a much greater share of their driving in pickup trucks.
• Women report doing a much great share of their driving in cars and SUVs.
• Over 66 percent of total driving trips and nearly 62 percent of total miles driven are done by drivers without a passenger in the vehicle.
• Women are 24 percent more likely than men to have a passenger in the vehicle on any given trip.
• On average, Americans drive the most during the fall (October through December) at 31.5 miles daily and drive the least during the winter (January through March) at 26.2 miles daily.

 

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