There’s a lot to look forward to in an upcoming holiday season, but in some cases, holidays can come with increased safety risks. Recent studies have found that certain holidays come with an increase in car accidents.
This can likely be attributed to an increase of people on the roads while travelling or going to celebrations and parties and an increase of people behaving irresponsibly. Which holidays present the greatest risk to drivers on the roads?
What Are The Most Dangerous Holidays?
According to information gathered from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System the three most dangerous holidays for car accidents are:
- Memorial Day Weekend (312 fatal accidents per year)
- Labor Day Weekend (308 fatal accidents per year)
- 4th of July Weekend (307 fatal accidents per year)
Rounding out the top five are Easter weekend at 280 fatal accidents per year and Thanksgiving weekend at 258. However, the data suggests that the date of July f4th is the riskiest day of the year to drive based on accident fatalities.
It’s safe to assume a combination of alcohol consumption and increased travel to lake houses or vacation rentals contribute to these increased accident statistics. In fact, according to this research, approximately 40 percent of the accidents over Memorial Day Weekend from 2011-2015 involved an intoxicated driver.
How To Stay Safe
If you are planning on driving around the area or farther for an upcoming holiday, you may want to take a few precautions to avoid an accident on the way there or back including:
- Mapping out your route ahead of time
- Avoiding driving late at night (around bar closing time)
- Staying alert and vigilant while driving (not driving while tired or possibly intoxicated)
It’s important to take the right steps to keep yourself and your loved ones safe while driving. Don’t let an accident derail your holiday plans.
