What New Jersey Residents Need To Know About Holiday Crashes

You may feel excited about the upcoming holiday season, but it brings with it more than just celebrations and beloved traditions. The holiday season in New Jersey is also historically a relatively dangerous time.

Emotions run high when families gather together, and people do not always behave in the best way during the holiday season. The combination of family stressors and celebrations that involve alcohol are deadly in some cases.

Drivers across New Jersey need to educate themselves about what happens with their collision risk during the winter holiday season.

Heavier traffic means more crash risk

Many people drive significant distances to celebrate holidays with their loved ones. The days immediately after holidays and the early mornings of popular holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving often see major thoroughfares choked with vehicles. People on their way to celebrations with cars full of family members may be at elevated risk of distraction and could perform unsafe maneuvers that lead to a wreck.

Higher traffic density and bad driving habits are both likely contributing factors to the overall risk of a fatal crash during the holiday season. Increased alcohol consumption is another concern. Drunk driving tends to increase around major holidays, which may contribute to the increased risk of a crash.

The statistics here in New Jersey show that the holidays see a noticeable increase in traffic deaths. In 2021, 13 people died in traffic collisions over the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend. There were another six traffic fatalities during Christmas week in 2021.

How can you protect yourself when driving during the holidays?

Awareness is crucial if you want to minimize your crash risk. When you understand that the possibility of a collision increases on certain days, you may have an easier time of making safer travel plans. You can choose to travel early or prioritize defensive driving techniques if you must travel on busy roads during more dangerous times of the year, like the weekends immediately before or after major holidays.

Keeping up today on New Jersey car crash statistics can help ensure that your holiday season is one of celebration and not of catastrophe.