It’s mid-December and the Christmas holidays are officially here. That means Christmas music is on local radio stations, it’s cold outside and unfortunately the Christmas holidays also means record accidents. During this holiday season buckle up and drive carefully.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that over 95 million Americans will be on the roadways this holiday season. Unfortunately, AAA estimates that more than 25,000 Americans will be seriously injured in auto accidents.
Two of the most prominent reasons for holiday accidents are, alcohol consumption and poor visibility.
Alcohol Consumption
The holidays mark people letting loose. People party harder and consume more alcohol than they normally would. Christmas isn’t statistically as highly correlated with traffic fatalities, however driving under the influence (DUI) traffic stops climb significantly. Most DUI traffic stops occur on Christmas-eve rather than Christmas day. The thinking there is that Christmas day is primarily a family function. Never the less Christmas is a time to exercise caution when travelling on the road. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 38 percent of automobile fatalities occurred on Christmas, between 2001 and 2005.
If you plan on consuming alcohol during the Christmas holidays avoid operating machinery or driving and if you have friends who have imbibed excessively, take their keys and offer to drive them.
Poor Visibility
Winter weather can often lead to conditions that significantly decrease visibility on roadways during the Christmas holidays. Poor visibility leads roadway collisions at an alarming rate. Depth perception, among other things decrease to the point of not being able to react in a timely fashion.
If you find yourself driving in poor visibility conditions here are a few things you should take into account: (1) make sure your windshield is clean; (2) turn on your headlight, not your full beam, (3) turn your wipers and demisters on (4) adjust your speed to give yourself enough time to react to others and (5) check your mirrors regularly.
If you get issued a ticket for a traffic incident during the holidays, trust the number one online defensive driving course provider with guaranteed ticket dismissal or we pay it. Happy holidays to you, buckle up and drive carefully.
