More than three weeks after they disappeared, the bodies of a North Carolina couple were discovered inside a wrecked car "deep in the woods," according to local police who estimated their vehicle had reached 103 mph at the time of the crash.
 
The incident that claimed the lives of Stephanie Mayorga and Paige Escalera was brutal but far from unique, according to authorities. With traffic down as much as 80% in some parts of the country due to coronavirus lockdowns, there has been an epidemic of speeding, often at triple-digit rates.
 
And while preliminary figures suggest there have been far fewer fender benders and conventional accidents during the past two months, the number of extreme, high-speed crashes appears to have skyrocketed.
 
The National Safety Council reports that, despite the sharp drop in traffic due to pandemic lockdowns, motor vehicle fatality rates jumped 14% in March, with speeding, racing and other behaviors apparently behind the increase.
 
"People (still) on the road have been getting the itch to drive faster," said Susanna Gotsch, director of industry analysis for CCC Information Services, a firm that consults with insurance companies on auto crashes and repairs. As a result, she said, "There has been a pretty significant jump" in crashes resulting in "non-drivable" or "total loss" of vehicles.
 
The data is not yet available to confirm that this jump specifically is the result of motorists driving much faster during the pandemic, but "It points to higher speeds before impact," Gotsch said, noting that "total loss frequency is going up."
  
The numbers might not seem like much, at least at first blush. By mid-April, CCC saw a 2% increase in crashes involving vehicles that couldn’t be driven from the scene, often the case when high speeds are involved. In a normal year, even a 0.2% jump would raise eyebrows, said Gotsch. But the increase was all the more alarming when one considers that, on the whole, "there’s been a pretty significant drop in auto claims" since March, when most of the U.S. was ordered into lockdown.
 
It could take some time before experts have enough data to fully understand what has occurred. Among other things, they will be watching to see if there has been a jump in crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists, both particularly vulnerable when motorists are speeding.