Memorial Day is a major road-trip holiday, and millions of people across the country will be taking to the highways. If you are among them, our personal injury attorneys in Miami warn you to take care. While the approach of summer means that driving conditions are dramatically improved from the winter months, bad weather is not the only hazard on the road. In fact, it isn’t even the worst. The three-day weekend provides the time to travel farther for a holiday visit; it could pay to exercise caution if you plan a Memorial Day weekend road trip. Summer months are a dangerous time, as federal statistics indicate that drunk drivers cause nearly twice as many traffic deaths in the summertime as they do during the rest of the year.
Holiday Weekends Pose a Major Danger, but Memorial Day Stands Out
Memorial Day – Car Accident – Miami Personal Injury Attorneys
Memorial Day weekend is an especially risky weekend for drivers. The likelihood of a fatal traffic accident on Memorial Day weekend is four times higher than it is on non-holiday weekends. Not only is the risk of a traffic accident higher on Memorial Day weekend, but Memorial Day was also the deadliest weekend for fatal traffic accidents every year from 2011 through 2015, leading even Labor Day weekend and the July Fourth weekend.
The National Safety Council routinely projects that there will be more fatal accidents on Memorial Day weekend than on any other weekend of the year. Unfortunately, the Memorial Day weekend often rises to those dubious expectations. In 2017, the NSC predicted a total of more than 400 traffic fatalities during the Memorial Day weekend, a sharp rise from the average of 364 traffic fatalities during the Memorial Day weekend from 2010 through 2015. That would be a 12% increase over the average number of traffic deaths from 2010-2015. More recent statistics are not available yet.
The NSC also estimated a total of roughly 47,000 serious injuries, which means that medical attention was required, over the Memorial Day weekend. Those estimates are supported by traffic death statistics showing that traffic deaths rose 6% in 2016. Further, traffic deaths were up 14% over highway deaths in 2014, representing the steepest two-year jump since 1964. The fact is, Memorial Day is a deadly weekend and a time to exercise caution on the roads.
If You Are Involved in an Accident with a Drunk Driver Over the Memorial Day Weekend, Contact a Miami Personal Injury Attorney
Memorial Day is a dangerous time to drive, with a heightened risk of encountering a drunk driver. If you are involved in a traffic accident over the Memorial Day weekend involving a drunk driver, you should talk to a Miami traffic accident attorney to determine what options you have to recover damages. Contact Flagler Personal Injury Group at (305) 424-8445 or through our online contact form. Flagler Personal Injury Group services the greater Miami area.
We handle a variety of cases, so call us now if you have any questions.
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