What’s driving Americans to take more road trips this summer?

Is the American road trip experiencing a renaissance? According to a new survey, coronavirus has resulted in 44 percent of American drivers taking more road trips this summer.

Of that 44 percent, the average respondent has already been on two road trips this summer and has another two planned for the future.

The uptick in road trips may be due to the fact that two in three drivers surveyed reported rethinking existing travel plans due to the pandemic and said traveling by vehicle allows for what many would consider to be safer travel.

Over four in 10 (43 percent) of those surveyed said they’ve replaced one or more of their canceled travel plans with a road trip of some kind.

Interestingly, 41 percent of the respondents said that with the increase in road trips, they are actually traveling now more than ever.

The new survey of 2,000 American drivers, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Cooper Tires, also showed that nearly half of the respondents (46 percent) said the pandemic has them relying on their cars and driving more than usual in general.

The average respondent has visited two states on road trips — not including their home state — since the pandemic began, with 35 percent saying they’ve visited even more.

This may be because, according to 73 percent of respondents, road tripping is more fun than flying – with 58 percent saying they plan to continue taking more road trips even after the pandemic ends.

Not only is road-tripping more fun, respondents say it’s potentially safer.

In fact, two in three of those polled said they’d rather road trip to their destination for 10 hours than fly there in two hours, given the current state of the world.

“Road trips are a classic summer ritual in America and a fun way to see the sights,” said Andrea Berryman, Director, North America Product Management for Cooper Tires.

“They also offer people the opportunity to travel while still social distancing and respecting safety guidelines. When preparing for a road trip, an important safety step is checking your tires to help ensure things go smoothly while traveling.”

To ensure they get to their destinations safely, drivers said they check their tire pressure (61 percent), check the overall condition of their tires (52 percent) and check their tire tread (51 percent) before they hit the road.

Of trips already taken this summer, conditions respondents perceived as making their travels safer included being able to get to their destination in a private vehicle (51 percent), a lack of large groups at the destination (41 percent), an outdoor destination (41 percent) and travel only with members of their immediate household (36 percent).

Seventy-one percent of those polled said the pandemic has made them want to be outdoors more and spend time away from destinations swarmed with people.

“We believe that everyone deserves to travel through life’s journeys with confidence and having safe, reliable tires is a key part of that confidence, particularly as Americans today are relying more than ever on their vehicles,” Berryman said.