If you think traffic is worse during the holiday season, it is not just your imagination. Those Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday traffic jams did not completely disappear, even though we are currently in the nondescript part of December. People take more road trips during the summer and during the winter holidays than they do at any other time of year. The summer is a whole three months, with road trips evenly distributed. Despite this, in the winter, everyone makes road trips for the same two holidays. Between those two holidays, people are driving more than usual as they shop for presents, attend company holiday parties, sit for family portraits for the family Christmas card, and line up at the post office to ship presents to their out-of-town relatives. The holiday season sees a higher concentration of traffic fatalities than any other time of year, but certain times and places are more dangerous than others. If you have suffered injuries in a car accident during the holiday season, contact a Santa Fe car accident lawyer.
Fatal Accidents are Not Evenly Distributed Through the Holiday Season
While the entire holiday season, from the lead-up to Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day, sees an uptick in motor vehicle accidents, certain weekends are the focus of the greatest number of collisions. There are so many accidents at these times that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collects data on them separately, namely:
· The fourth week in November, which includes Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday
· Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
· New Year’s Eve
The rest of the time in December and late November, the rate of accidents is closer to the yearly average.
New Mexico is Not the Most Dangerous Place to Drive
Some parts of the country witness more traffic accidents during the holidays than others. The region with the greatest spike in holiday season traffic fatalities is the Southeast, including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama. This is because people taking road trips to spend the holidays in warm locales pass through these areas. The snowiest parts of the U.S. also see a sharp spike in holiday season accidents. New Mexico is just warm enough, but not too warm, and just snowy enough, but not too snowy, to avoid the worst of the holiday traffic dangers.
More Accidents Involve Alcohol During the Holidays Than at Other Times of Year
When you consider the entire year, alcohol is a factor in 31 percent of traffic fatalities. That percentage climbs to 36 percent for fatal accidents on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. On New Year’s Eve, 40 percent of fatal traffic accidents involve a drunk driver.
Contact Slate Stern About DWI Accident Lawsuits
Slate Stern is a personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs injured in accidents involving drivers who are under the influence of alcohol during the holiday season. Contact Slate Stern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call (505)814-1517 to discuss your case.
Sources
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/holidays/thanksgiving-day