The D.C. region may have a reputation for having bad drivers, but that's probably not due to a lack of time spent behind the wheel, if a new survey is any indication.
A WTOP Beltway Poll shows 40 percent of area drivers spend a total of at least one hour a day on the road.
That's not a majority, but it still means four in 10 local motorists spend about twice as long behind the wheel when compared to the national average. On average, Americans spend 28 minutes a day driving, according to government figures.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the new poll says Maryland and Virginia residents spend more time driving than D.C. residents. Most District dwellers drive less than 30 minutes and less than 10 miles, while most Virginians and Marylanders in the survey said they travel more than 30 minutes and more than 10 miles daily.
The WTOP poll also suggests the odds of spending more time commuting in the area increase if drivers are black or if they're married fathers with jobs:
"Working married dads report the most travel in terms of distance and time spent traveling, with 36 percent traveling over 50 miles daily, with almost a quarter (22 percent) spending more than two hours on travel. Almost half (48 percent) travel over one hour, with over 22 percent over 50 miles daily.
[...] 48 percent of African Americans in the D.C. area spend over one hour on travel, compared with 36 percent of white individuals."
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Read more about the poll here.
