What Holiday Do Most Car Accidents Occur?

There are several reasons that car accidents are more common during the holidays. Not all of these reasons are specifically tied to holidays, but they all tend to be present during those times.

Drunk Driving

Unfortunately, drunk driving is relatively common during the holidays because many holidays involve copious amounts of drinking. This isn’t a problem if you are drinking at home. However, people often travel to their gatherings before drinking and then drive back home. Unsurprisingly, this results in a lot of drunk drivers on the road.

If you are driving during the holidays, you should do your best to avoid anyone who appears to be driving erratically. There is a good chance the person is inebriated. One good way to avoid this danger is to drive home on a day other than the holiday.

Lots of Cars on the Road

If you have ever driven anywhere during a holiday, you know that the traffic is usually terrible. During most holidays, the number of cars on the road is significantly higher than usual. Unsurprisingly, when more vehicles are being driven, there is an increased chance of car accidents.

Additionally, many people feel obligated to travel during the holidays. This means that there are often more cars being driven that aren’t roadworthy. These vehicles present a greater threat of causing accidents.

Avoiding the high traffic during holiday travel usually requires adding some extra travel time to your schedule. You can travel before or after the holiday or take less driven roads, but both will make your trip take longer.

Stress and Hurry

Another thing you are probably already familiar with regarding holiday travel is the stress and rush involved. It always feels like you are running late and have more things to do than time to do them.

Imagine, for example, that you are visiting family when the host suddenly realizes they forgot to purchase corn. You might find yourself rushing to a store you aren’t familiar with that will close in less than half an hour. It is easy to get into an accident when you are stressed, rushing, and in an unfamiliar location.

A little extra care with planning can help mitigate this some, but even if you aren’t stressed or rushing, others will be. This adds unavoidable danger to the roads during most holidays.

Weather Conditions

Several major holidays occur during late fall, winter, and early spring. During these times of the year, the roads are more dangerous due to weather conditions. Snow and ice create slick roads that are risky to drive on for days after a storm.

Roads also deteriorate during these months due to cold and wet conditions. And because it is too cold for road crews to perform repairs, damaged roads usually aren’t fixed until late spring or summer.

Even if you take great care while driving on slick or damaged roads, other drivers might not be as cautious. You can easily get into an accident when someone else loses traction near you.

Memorial Day weekend and Labor day weekend are the most dangerous holiday travel times because they result in the highest road congestion. Most people travel almost exclusively by car for these two holidays, which greatly increases the number of vehicles on the road.

However, while other holidays aren’t as dangerous, accidents still increase during almost all of them.

Independence Day

Independence Day is a dangerous holiday for similar reasons to Memorial Day and Labor Day. Most people who travel somewhere on the 4th of July use their car to get there. Additionally, this holiday usually involves more drinking than other holidays.

The one mitigating factor is that most people don’t travel far to celebrate. Fewer accidents happen when most people are only driving locally.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving combines many of the factors that make car travel dangerous but also has a few important mitigating factors. Probably the most important mitigating factor is that many families travel by plane or train for this holiday. That slightly decreases the number of cars on the road.

Additionally, some families treat the holiday as a weekend, while others treat it as a one-day holiday. This means that many people are traveling on different days, decreasing the number of cars on the road at the same time.

Christmas

Despite combining nearly every risk factor, Christmas is not one of the most dangerous travel holidays. Several factors contribute to the holiday being typically safer for travel.

First, because most people get multiple days off for Christmas, travel is often spread across most of the week. The most traffic is still on Christmas Day and Eve, but the roads are typically less busy compared to other holidays.

Another important factor is that many people fly or travel by train during this time of the year. This also decreases the number of cars on the road.

New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve is infamous for drunk driving. Most adults drink to celebrate the holiday and usually do so at parties. This means you have a lot of people on the road, late at night, that have been drinking.

In recent years, a lot of attention has been given to drunk driving on New Year’s Eve. This attention has resulted in many taxi and ride-sharing companies offering free rides to anyone who needs one during the holiday. Between this and other awareness campaigns, car accidents aren’t as prevalent on this holiday as they used to be.

The best way to avoid car accidents during the holidays is to avoid driving during them. If you are safe in your home, you can’t end up in an accident.

But that isn’t always reasonable, particularly if there is family or friends that you can’t visit any other time of the year. If you are forced to travel, you can increase your safety by using alternate means of transportation, like a bus, train, or plane. These are all safer than traveling by car.

Alternatively, if you must travel by car, try to travel when others aren’t likely making their holiday trips. For example, if you can travel on Thursday before Memorial Day weekend and return on Tuesday, you will see many fewer holiday travelers on the road.

If you can’t avoid traveling during peak holiday times, take as many precautions as possible. Some ways to stay safe are to:

• Not to drive too late at night
• Do not get distracted by your phone
• Use GPS to avoid traffic and accidents
• Avoid driving when you are overly tired
• Keep a careful eye out for others driving dangerously
• Be patient, and do not break any driving laws

Since you will likely be traveling with family members, you want to take every precaution. And you should consider switching driving duties with others in the car, if possible, to ensure the driver is always as focused as possible.

Finally, if everyone can arrange their schedules to make it work, consider celebrating holidays at other times. Thanksgiving isn’t any less meaningful if you get together one week earlier to share friendship and turkey. And you can be certain that almost nobody will be traveling that weekend.

As soon as possible, you should call the car accident attorneys at Morgan and Morgan. Our law firms are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Even if your accident is on Christmas Day, there will be someone available to schedule a free case evaluation and help you with any immediate problems.

No, our fees don’t change based on when you get into a car accident. We only take clients on contingency, which means we receive a percentage of your compensation. And if we are unable to get you money, you will never be charged for our services.

Typically, you will receive compensation from either your car insurance company or the policy of the other driver. If your claim is denied or the insurance company tries to underpay you, an attorney can help you negotiate for proper compensation. Should that fail, you have the right to sue for damages.

One of the greatest difficulties with getting into an accident during the holidays is that you often are far from home. This can make it difficult to get medical attention, get your car repaired, and find a good lawyer. A Morgan & Morgan attorney can solve all of those problems.

Our law firm has offices in every state in the country and multiple locations per state. A local lawyer will help you find medical and repair services while handling your case. And then, when you get home, you can speak to an attorney near where you live to get updates about your case.

Unfortunately, car accidents are more common during every major holiday. And no matter how careful you are, if you choose to drive during a holiday season, there is a significantly higher chance you will end up in a car accident. If that happens to you, contact the lawyers at Morgan and Morgan immediately to get a free case evaluation.