Traffic accidents down but fatal accidents up in Michigan while drivers overpaid $1 billion for insurance during 2020, a driving update

I wrote "I fully expect to be driving [my car Pearl] at 4,000+ miles per year when I post the next update" in Americans speeding during the pandemic is increasing traffic deaths, a driving update last month. Pearl the Prius passed another 1,000 miles yesterday, so it's time for that update. Just as last month's driving update revisited Most Americans stay home, allowing people to speed on open roads, the first pandemic driving update, today's entry re-examines the second update since the pandemic began, Auto insurance rebates and lower premiums as Americans drive less, a driving update for Snow Bear during July 2020. Watch WXYZ's Michigan drivers overcharged $1 billion in auto premiums during pandemic, study finds, which the Detroit ABC affiliate uploaded last month.

Michigan drivers were overcharged more than $1 billion in auto premiums in 2020, according to a study by a national consumer advocacy group.

This report repeats what I wrote about last month; driving decreased, but fatalities increased. Also, it's a good thing that Michigan drivers received rebates last year, but could have received more, as the follow graphic shows.


At least our rates are lower now.

Follow over the jump for the details of my driving the past month-and-one-half.


Pearl the Prius passed 54,000 miles yesterday, October 21, 2021. That's 51 days since her odometer rolled over 53,000 miles on August 31, 2021, for averages of 19.61 miles per day, 598.04 miles per standard month, and 7,156.86 miles per year. Wow! That's a lot more than the 5.78 miles per day, 176.03 miles per standard month, and 2109.83 miles per year between March 11, 2021 and August 31, 2021. I'm right back to where I was in June 2016, when I drove exactly the same number of miles in the same days. It's as if the past five years of reducing my driving and the pandemic never happened.

As for the prediction that I'll be driving Pearl 4,000+ miles per year, that happened for the past two months, but not for the year as a whole yet, as I drove her only 3,000 miles since June 26, 2020, 482 days earlier. That translates to 6.22 miles per day, 189.83 miles per standard month, and 2,271.78 miles per year. While that's a lot more than the 4.89 miles per day, 149.14 miles per standard day, 1,784.84 per standard year and 1,789.73 miles per leap year I drove Pearl between January 27, 2020 and March 11, 2021, it's a long way from 4,000 miles per year. That might take another couple of updates to reach. In the mean time, I will be adding to the trend of increased driving, as shown in the graph below from Advisor Perspectives (Doug Short).


As I wrote last time about my reduced driving, "it was nice while it lasted."