The deadly virus has negatively affected almost every aspect of our lives, but there is a surprising upside to the pandemic. COVID-19 has reduced fatal car crashes more than any other event in history.

In Seattle, there has been a 100% drop in fatal accidents and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation reports that crashes are down by 75 percent. In New York City, deadly crashes were down by 33% and in Los Angeles they were slashed by half.

Top researcher Duane Gibson, writing for AutoInsuranceEZ.com, gathered the data and presented the surprising report.

Overall traffic across the U.S. is down 38% under the coronavirus pandemic, which has many folks staying home. According to AutoInsuranceEZ, that ranks the pandemic #1 on their list of events in history that reduced fatal car crashes.

In Washington state, one of the epicenters of the pandemic, traffic fatalities are down 100% in comparison to this time last year. But this pandemic isn’t the first event to reduce traffic, and thus traffic fatalities, in U.S. history.

“I was surprised to learn that natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires have led to a decrease in traffic fatalities, given that these disasters tend to come with evacuation orders,” Gibson tells Newsmax.

Most events that have reduced traffic fatalities have been natural disasters such as hurricanes, says AutoInsuranceEZ.

• Hurricane Sandy, #5 on their list, brought an 11% drop in traffic fatalities.
• Hurricane Harvey, #3 on their list, brought traffic fatalities down even further, causing an 18.8% drop in roadway deaths.
• Hurricane Irene, #2 in their ranking, saw a total reduction in traffic deaths of 21%.

One surprising event that reduced traffic and driving fatalities was the election of Donald Trump in November 2016, which saw a 6.4% reduction in crashes when compared to the prior presidential election and two days following. The event ranks #6 in their analysis.

As the coronavirus continues to spread across the country, we are seeing a decline in traffic especially in CDC-designated hot spots, such as Seattle, San Francisco, and Detroit.

Disasters and other events are tragic, to be sure. But one good result: Whether we are sheltered in from an incoming hurricane or quarantined to battle a pandemic, we spend less time on the road and that results in fewer fatal crashes.