Holidays are often a time to get together and enjoy friends and family, so there is a lot of extra traffic on Florida roadways. Celebrations also commonly include alcoholic beverages. Add to this that overindulgence is often a key to any celebration, and it is not surprising that holidays are known for a higher level of drunk driving accidents than any other time of the year.
According to BACtrack, the worst holidays for accidents were the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Labor Day also makes it into the top five. The 4th of July and Labor Day are high-risk holidays is because they are during the warmer months of the year when people are more likely to be on the roads anyway despite the holiday.
There is also an increase in the number of miles traveled, which adds to the risks of traveling during the holidays. Forbes notes that about 54 percent of people are traveling 50 or more miles to get to their destinations around Thanksgiving, which is way above the average miles people travel other days of the year. However, more traffic, longer traveling and more drinking are not the only factors involved. Gas prices also play a huge role, so when they go down, the amount of people on the road tends to go up.
Alcohol-related accidents are most likely to involve people between the ages of 21 and 24. In 2008 during the last two weeks of December, about four in every 10 accident deaths involving those ages 21 to 24 were related to alcohol use.
