Drunk driving is a danger to motorists any time of year, but there are certain days in the calendar where this reckless behavior tends to spike.
There are six major holidays that tend to be the most dangerous on the road, and three of them are coming up soon.
Thanksgiving weekend
Turkey Day is dangerous partly due to rushed and fatigued drivers, but also due to daytime alcohol consumption. It’s the busiest holiday for road traffic, with families driving to celebrations at someone else’s house. The day before Thanksgiving is also considered the biggest bar night of the year, which leads to poor driving decisions that evening and throughout the weekend.
From 2012 to 2016, over 800 people died in alcohol-impaired accidents from 6 p.m. on Wednesday to 5:59 a.m. on Monday. While some single-day holidays have higher rates, the whole weekend of Thanksgiving celebration makes it the deadliest holiday.
Christmas
Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, it’s one of the only days a year most workers have the day off. Most of the traffic occurs between the afternoon of Christmas Eve and the evening of Christmas Day. Like Thanksgiving, many drivers are making day trips to family celebrations.
While Christmas fatalities tend to increase when the holiday falls on a weekend, instead of a weekday like it is this year, drunk driving still goes up during this time.
New Year’s Day
Of these three holidays, this one is probably the most associated with alcohol-fueled celebrating. Because most people stay put and count down to midnight, drunk driving spikes in the early hours of Jan. 1 as parties are winding down.
If the worst occurs
Getting into an accident where someone is seriously injured or loses their life is tragic enough, but it can be even more hurtful when the accident was caused by someone else’s poor judgment. Drunk driving accident victims deserve to seek closure and justice.