A pattern has taken place over the past 25 years since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, has been tracking the data. They have recently published statistics on the most unsafe days to be on the roads. The data shows that it is not weather or fate where these certain days are concerned, but rather the drivers that are to blame. Personal Injuiry Lawyer.
The top ten deadliest days seem to be:
July 4 July 3 Dec 23 Dec 24
Dec 22 Aug 3 Jan 1 Sept 1
Sept 2 Aug 4
These dates basically mean that drivers should be more cautious on the roads and if it is possible to stay off the roads, that would be a better option. Holidays seem to bring more fatalities on the roads, as well as the days leading up to the holiday and the days just after. The deadliest days seem to be around Memorial Day, Labor Day, The Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve.
The study went on to find out the most dangerous days of the week all year round as well as the most deadliest times of day. The top three deadliest days of the week were Saturday, Sunday, and then Friday. No surprise, really. The weekend is when there is more traffic on the roadways, generally. The top three deadliest times of the day were found to be 3-6 pm, 6-9 pm and 9 pm to midnight. Also not a surprise since from 3-6 pm is when most people are getting out of work and trying to rush home. From 6-9 pm is also a rush hour time. From 9 pm to midnight, it is dark and people are trying to get somewhere to have fun, such as out to a late dinner or out for drinks.
The most important things to keep in mind when safety is concerned is to always wear a seat belt. Wearing a seat belt has been known to save lives. Do not drive when you are tired. This has caused many accidents as well as fatalities. Another obvious tip is to not drink and drive. More often than not, innocent people lose their lives because of a drunk driver. These tips are especially important to remember around the holidays when stress levels are high, people run themselves ragged into severe fatigue and the alcohol is easy to come by. This is when travel seems to be at its highest as well.
Knowing what days have the most accidents can help to save your life and the life of those you love. Keeping in mind the safety tips as well as being aware of your surroundings and taking your time can prove to be the best choices you can make.
I was never in a car accident until this past December. I felt very lucky to be in my early 30’s and never to be in an accident, not even a minor one. December 17, 2006 changed all of that. My family and I were on our way to a mall in the next state over to get my youngest son’s first birthday present and pictures taken, as well as Christmas pictures of all four of my kids. We were also planning on paying Santa a little visit. We chose this mall, which was about an hour away from our house because we wanted to get my son’s present at Build a Bear Workshop and get the pictures done at The Picture People and this mall had both. We never went to this particular mall before either. On our way, we hit a snag, literally. A Toys R Us tractor trailer was going north and we were headed south. The tractor trailer rear ended the car in front of him as he was trying to make an illegal left turn over solid yellow lines. Here we came at that single moment as the Neon got hit. The impact of the tractor trailer hitting the Neon sent him head on into our lane, into our minivan. We hit head on at about 50 mph. I don’t remember the actual hit. I just know that one minute we were talking and the next minute, everything was white.
The Deadliest Days On the Road
The airbag had deployed and that was the white that I saw. I never wear my seat belt either, but for some reason, I had it on that day. I have been told by many that the airbag and seat belt saved my life. I had suffered from a broken arm, bloody nose, burns on my cheeks from the airbag, and bruises all up and down my body. The airbag had pulled out my left contact as well so for a few minutes, I thought I was blind. My husband was the driver. He had suffered from a broken foot and multiple bruises up and down his body. My four kids were in the car as well. My almost four year old and almost one year old were in the middle row. My son, JD, who was almost four was behind the driver. He suffered from bruising from the seat belt and a bloody nose. His worst injuries were not physical though. He was the only one that saw the car coming toward us. He had nightmares for weeks. My almost one year old, Jesse, was still in a rear facing car seat. That saved him from any injuries. He didn’t even know what happened. My ten year old daughter, Lexi, was in the third row on the drivers side. She had multiple bruises and lacerations from the seat belt and was scared out of her mind. My two year old, Ryder, was next to Lexi on the passenger side of the minivan. When I got back to him, his head was flopped over and he wasn’t waking up. He was asleep when the accident occurred. He was never a heavy sleeper so he really scared me. I picked him up out of his car seat and started screaming for him to wake up. It was the longest three minutes of my life waiting for him to open his eyes. It is possible that he was unconscious but tests were never ran because he was acting normal by the time we got to the hospital by ambulance.
It was the scariest day of my life until this point. I do not know who it was that made me put on my seat belt but that proved to save my life. My kids didn’t have any serious injuries and my husband and my own injuries weren’t serious so we were very lucky. Had the circumstances been slightly different, a worse outcome would have been the case. The tractor trailer just dropped off his huge load at the local Toys R Us. If that weren’t the case, we would probably had a much bigger impact and us as well as the Neon would not be alive right now. I can’t stress enough how important the seat belts and car seats were in saving our lives and limiting our injuries to minor ones. Always keep your children in the proper car restraints.
I wanted to share my story so that people would see that an innocent trip to the mall can become deadly. The weather was perfect out, sunny and warmer than usual for December in NJ. It was only 11 am in the morning, on a Sunday. Tragedy can happen at any time but the weekend is a time that more people are on the roads and many people are in a hurry to get somewhere.
Stay safe on the roads. Keep your families safe. Wear your seat belts, take your time and be aware of your surroundings. It isn’t you that you need to worry about in most cases, it is everyone else.
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