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The Deadliest Days for Car Crashes

By Kat Zeman, Insure.com
posted: 146 DAYS 3 HOURS AGO
filed under: Insurance
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Insure.com
There's one reason not to cheer for Independence Day: It's one of the deadliest holiday for alcohol-related car crashes. Statistics gathered over the past 25 years show that, on average, nearly 51 percent of all deadly traffic crashes on July 4 are related to alcohol -- although that percentage varies from year to year.
The deadliest days
Holiday Fatalities
Fourth of July
(July 4)
200 deaths
(44 percent alcohol related)
Labor Day
(Sept. 1-3)
519 deaths
(40 percent alcohol related)
New Year's
(Dec. 30 -Jan. 1)
391 deaths
(40 percent alcohol related)
Memorial Day
(May 26-28)
491 deaths
(38 percent alcohol related)
Christmas
(Dec. 22-25)
468 deaths
(36 percent alcohol related)
Thanksgiving
(Nov. 22-25)
548 dead
(35 percent alcohol related)
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2007 data
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been tracking car crash statistics for a quarter of a century. Holidays that sometimes rival the Fourth of July for fatalities include New Year's Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Eric Bolton, spokesperson for NHTSA, says that when people think of a deadly holiday "the intuitive thought would be New Year's Day." However, that association may be precisely why people stay off the roads on New Year's than they do on July 4, he says. (While the New Year's statistics are totaled over three days, the Fourth of July stats are for one day.)
Two years ago, 200 people reportedly died in car accidents on July 4. Out of that total, 44 percent died as a result of alcohol-impaired driving. By comparison, 391 people died that same year during a three-day period surrounding New Year's Day (NHTSA judges the length of a holiday based on which day of the week it falls). In that case, 40 percent were alcohol-related.
No matter what day it is, most crash fatalities occur on two-lane roads. Weekends are more dangerous than weekdays and more people die while driving in rain compared to snow or sleet. December, January and February are generally the most dangerous months for car fatalities.
NHTSA's 2007 annual report (2008 statistics will be released this fall) also states that the most dangerous time to drive is between midnight to 3 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, half of all fatal crashes that year occurred at speeds of 55 mph or more.

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2009-06-25 18:35:05
COMMENTS ( 121 )
Page 2 of 25 << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>
Pod 50
3:37PM Jul 2 2009 
Our Government is on a roll that cigarettes (taxing) is the only thing that kills and taxes them to protect our young people. But you notice alchohol is ok . Why? Take all alchohol out of government (parties ect.)!! That is what most government is: Alchololics!!!
It is ok for our children to drink!!!!, and grow up to be alcholocs!!!!
Cigarettes and alcholol are both on the same page
REPLY RATING
(1 RATINGS)
 
CarolinaGalMarie
3:29PM Jul 2 2009 
I think they need to be flogged in public for all of us too watch
REPLY RATING
(0 RATINGS)
 
Mccoy4ib
2:17PM Jul 2 2009 
Driving drunk should be treated as assault with a deadly weapon. It is the same as pulling a gun on someone. One missil is 2000 pounds of steel and the other an ounce of lead. You would have to be stupid to do either. There is no excuse for being stupid! Think about someone besides yourself and neither of these events will take place. Drunken driving resulting in the death of an innocent must be treated as a capital crime. You dink, you drive, you kill, you go to death row and rot! Think about that if you think at all.
REPLY RATING
(4 RATINGS)
 
BC2860
2:05PM Jul 2 2009 
Drinking and driving in this country is a big problem. I spent 11 years as a fire rescue responder and have seen first hand the destruction a drinking driver can cause. All the ignescent lives it affects, And live it changes. It is all our reasonability to make a difference. We all need to learn what we can do to change what happens on our hwy. Have a happy and safe holiday. Brian
REPLY RATING
(1 RATINGS)
 
AmndCvtch
2:02PM Jul 2 2009 
So many people die on our highways because Al Gore the a**hole think's it's ok for people to drive down the road in a tiny piece of crap car at 60 m.p.h. His buddies are going to make $ off of the global warming scam while people die in accidents. My Dad hit a dump truck in the fog when it ran a stop sign going 50 m.p.h. without his seat belt on and walked away without a scratch because he was driving a big, heavy pick-up truck made out of steel and metal with an actual frame. You won't catch me driving down the highway with my butt 6 inches above the ground, with a bunch of plastic and composite keeping me safe. What a joke.
REPLY RATING
(3 RATINGS)
 
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