Happy Thanksgiving! When driving, stay aware and safe
Thanksgiving Holiday driving – be responsible and keep your vacation festive
With Thanksgiving weekend just around the corner, we’d like to remind our readers to be extra careful when driving during this time. This can help prevent traffic collisions which occur at a much higher rate during this long weekend compared to the rest of the year.
Below is a short list of things to keep in mind over the next few weeks.
Why you should be driving extra carefully on Thanksgiving
Most serious and fatal traffic collisions occur on Thanksgiving, more so than during New Year’s or any other time of the year. Thanksgiving weekend carries over 250 fatal accidents per year on average, with Los Angeles being the most dangerous.
Many employers do not give the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off, leading to rushed, distracted, and fatigued drivers on the road throughout that weekend.
College students sometimes engage in what is called “blackout Wednesday” where students drink with their friends at school before returning home for the holidays, leading to many intoxicated and fatigued drivers on the road.
Be a vigilant driver
You can be the most careful driver on the road and still be hit by a drunk driver or a person falling asleep at the wheel. Be extra alert during this holiday weekend to keep your family and yourself safe from other people’s carelessness on the road.
Always wear your seatbelt. It may sound obvious, but over 60% of victims of fatal collisions were not wearing their seatbelts.
Stay alert and away from cars moving erratically. Given that over 40% of victims of fatal collisions were hit by drunk drivers, you as the driver need to proactively stay vigilant of your surroundings, and to stay away from cars moving around erratically.
Driving fatality increases by a rate of over 3x between 6 P.M. and 6 A.M. during this holiday weekend.
Some things to keep in mind
Give yourself extra space – while a three seconds stopping distance might be recommended, you should consider increasing that distance during this traffic jammed holiday weekend.
If you are driving to a new city, print out directions and make yourself familiar with your destination before you start driving.
Distracted driving, including texting or using GPS on the phone while driving, has been shown to vastly increase your odds of being in a traffic collision. Don’t ever do this, but especially not on a holiday weekend filled with increased risks.
You can’t prevent all collisions and you can’t always protect yourself from the negligence of another person. You can, however, give yourself plenty of time to travel to your destination, maintain a safe speed and following distance, and, most importantly, remember that getting to your destination is more important than getting there on time.
From every one of us here at Montanez Yu, we wish you a happy and safe holiday season.
