Most Dangerous Times to Drive
Motor vehicles are the primary means of transportation in the United States and in many other countries, and yet according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it is also the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 1 to 34 years old.
The month and time of day plays an important factor in determining the reason behind the crash. The month is indicative of weather conditions while the time of day is important as well because a lot of dangerous driver behavior is aggravated at night.
An early estimate of motor vehicle traffic fatalities from the month of January to October 2008 reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that there were 31,110 fatalities for the ten-month period.
Results showed that August is the month with the highest fatalities with 3,612 while March yielded the lowest number of casualties. There is a decrease in number compared to the months of 2007. In fact, there is an 18% decline in the fatalities in the month of March.
Driving too fast for the weather conditions, especially during the winter season plays a major role in car crashes each year. The celebration of holidays such as Memorial Day is also a factor as more drivers tend to drink during the festivities. Here is a partial list of the dangerous months of 2008:
- January- 2,816
- February- 2,805
- March- 2,804
- April- 2,935
- May- 3,212
- June- 3,291
- July- 3,287
- August- 3,612
- September- 3,075
- October- 3,273
Time of day is also a factor in car accidents. Drunk driving, speeding and driving without a seat belt all significantly increase at night and each contribute to increased motor vehicle crash casualties.
49% of fatal crashes happen at night, with a fatality rate three times higher than daytime hours. Two-thirds of the people killed at night are not wearing seatbelts.
Weekends yield the highest numbers of crash victims, with a combined average of 143 deaths for Saturday and Sunday.
Midnight to 3 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays were the most dangerous times to drive in 2007, with 1,251 and 1,383 fatal crashes respectively.