Don’t drink and drive.
‘ Tis the season to be merry. Which is why the holidays are one of the peak times for drunk driving related crashes. The danger includes buzzed and drugged (high) driving. Keep yourself and your loved ones safe and make sure your driver stays sober.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality and Injury Reporting System (FARS), New Year’s Eve has the highest rate of alcohol-related traffic crash fatalities in the U.S.
Before you head out for an event, plan to designate a sober driver, call a cab, or request a ride share to get home safely.
Get enough sleep.
Drowsy driving is as dangerous, as drunk and distracted driving (the 3 D’s). If you are going on a long drive, during what can be a stressful holiday period, make sure that you begin your trip after a good night’s sleep. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates about 100,000 police-reported, drowsy-driving crashes annually, resulting in nearly 800 fatalities and about 50,000 injuries.
If you feel yourself getting drowsy, get off the road and take a break. If you can, share the driving.
If you are close to your destination when you start to get drowsy, consider parking the car and calling a cab, a ride-share or a friend to pick you up.
Leave early.
If you head out with plenty of time, you are less likely to try and drive fast, and you are less likely to get stressed and irritable. Give yourself time so that you don’t feel rushed.
If you find yourself getting irritable, take deep breaths and try to keep calm. If you feel that you are struggling with road rage, take a break until you feel calm.
Planning ahead can reduce stress and other distractions. If you need directions, plan to review the route before you leave and ask a passenger to help navigate. If you must use GPS yourself, secure the device on the dashboard or windshield near eye level. Placing a phone too low in the car will force the driver to look away from the road too often.
Child Safety.
Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of death among children.
Make sure children are properly buckled in and using the age and size appropriate car seats and booster seats.
In this colder weather, kids wearing bulky clothes or puffy coats makes it difficult to tighten harnesses correctly. Remove thick coats to buckle children in place first, then place the coat or blanket over your child to keep them warm in the car.
Teen safety.
Leading causes of teen crashes include inexperience, nighttime driving and the 3 D’s: Distraction, Drowsy, Drunk/Drugged driving.
Use the holidays to get some supervised driving time with your teen and practice driving in different types of weather. Set a good example and always use, and require that your teen, and all their passengers, wears a seat belt.