Holidays are supposed to be a time for fun with family and friends, but they are also a particularly perilous period to hit the roads.Thankfully if you are aware of serious statistics around Dangerous Holidays on The Roads, you can take the proper precautions to stay safe.
There are a number of reasons behind this, with the increased volume of vehicles sharing the same amount of tarmac no doubt a major contributing factor.
Thankfully if you are aware of the serious statistics around holiday-based car accidents, you can take the proper precautions to stay safe, so here is a rundown of the most statistically dangerous dates to add to your diary.
Memorial Day
Recent figures show that Memorial Day is dangerous on the roads, especially when it comes to fatal crashes caused by drunk drivers.
In 2019 the total for this weekend sat at 158, which is significantly higher than any other holiday in the calendar.
People who choose to overindulge and then drive home from events they have attended on Memorial Day need to appreciate that they are not only putting themselves at risk of injury or death, but are also inviting catastrophe for other road users and any passengers they have with them. Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs is never worth it, but is especially irresponsible in this context.
Of course alcohol is not the only element at play when it comes to causing fatalities over the course of the Memorial Day weekend, but it is certainly present in at least half of the incidents covered in the most recently recorded year.
Labor Day
Coming in at a close second, the Labor Day weekend is another event which encourages overindulgence amongst people who are attending parties and events, and which then rapidly increases the likelihood of DUIs and deaths on the road as a result.
Bear in mind that we are primarily looking at the number of fatal accidents which occur within the usual remit of the holidays themselves, rather than focusing just on the 24 hour periods during which they are technically taking place. This makes sense when you consider that often drunk driving occurs in the early hours of the next morning, which might otherwise skew the statistics in an unhelpful way.
4th of July
The national celebration of independence is marked by literally hundreds of millions of people, so in a way it is a relief to see that only around 300 vehicular fatalities are recorded over this particular holiday weekend.
Another fact unearthed in the recent stats is that in terms of driving-related deaths on a single day, the 4th of July is very much in the lead, and is only eclipsed by Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends when the whole periods around them are taken into account, as discussed earlier.
Christmas
The Christmas holiday period is a little more loosely defined, and can arguably encompass more days than many of its counterparts. It is also a holiday that encourages more long distance travel than almost any other, so it is impressive that it comes relatively low down the list in terms of road danger.
Even so, that is not an excuse to be complacent, and there are still over 100 people killed on average on the roads every year over the festive season, with drunk driving once again being the most commonplace cause.
Adverse weather conditions are also more of a risk over Christmas, so drivers need to be aware of the threats to safety that are posed by things like snow, ice and rain, and adjust their driving styles and top speeds accordingly in order to minimize the likelihood of an accident occurring. Having a strong rock salt spreader can truly make a difference in safety.
