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Car accidents expected to rise during holiday festivities

On Behalf of | Dec 12, 2019 | Firm News

The holidays are full of parties in Connecticut where friends, family and coworkers gather around and often drink. Unfortunately, car accidents as a result of impaired driving can lead to serious injuries and even fatalities if a collision occurs. The chances of a car accident rise during the merriest time of year. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has predicted the number of fatalities from motor vehicle accidents between Christmas to New Year’s Day 2019 to be 799. For 2018, they predicted 1,093 over the 11.5 days. The final result for 2018 was 1,087, so it will be interesting to see the final results for 2019. 

These predictions do not account for the total number of accidents occurring during the same time. Nor do they account for the countless injuries from non-fatal accidents. The holiday periods on average result in more fatalities than non-holiday periods of time. 

The National Safety Council provides a snapshot of the injury and fatality rates for the Christmas Day holiday period. The latest statistics are from 2018 as the 2019 season has not yet happened. Seatbelts prevented fatalities in car accidents with a 45% effective rate. 

As of 2017, the Council states that 29% of the total fatalities during this time period occurred due to alcohol-related accidents. The percentage was 32% for the 2016 Christmas Day holiday period. The percent of alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities chart shows a steady decline since the creation in 1980 with ups and downs along the way. 

Medical professionals treated injuries on a ratio of 114:1, injuries to fatalities. They estimate the 2019 period could see about 48,100 injuries requiring medical attention. 

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