Five holiday driving safety tips
December 16, 2024
This is the season for festive feasts and gatherings with friends and family. However, all the holiday activity can also mean more hazardous winter driving conditions.
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), holiday traffic fatalities during peak periods like the New Year are about 10-12% higher than non-holiday periods of comparable length. Aside from road conditions, some of the key contributors to this uptick in motor vehicle accidents include:
- Spike in vehicles on the road
- More distracted and impaired drivers
- More aggressive holiday shoppers behind the wheel
- Lack of winter tires and other weather-appropriate equipment
Whether it’s work-related driving or getting to your holiday parties and dinners, we want to help get you there safely. To that end, here are five winter driving safety tips for the Holiday season.
- Schedule required maintenance
The easiest way to prevent an accident before it happens is to make sure your vehicle is in top working condition. Even the slightest maintenance issue can be greatly exacerbated by poor winter driving conditions.
For most repair shops, the holiday season tends to be the busiest around the holidays, so you’ll want to make sure you can get your vehicle in. Vehicle repair shops are also not immune to the holiday season pinch of supply chain shortages. Get repairs done early to avoid spending your holiday trip broken down on the side of the road.
- Do your winter driving in off-peak times
The busiest travel day before major travel holidays has traditionally been the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and December 23rd. By spending extra vacation days to travel on non-peak days, or leveraging remote work situations to do so, you can travel on less congested roads and reduce the risk of a crash.
Additionally, consider traveling in the morning rather than at the end of the day. According to the National Safety Council, most crashes occur between 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm, with the hours of 8:00 am to noon being some of the safest hours. - Take regular breaks on long trips
Long road trips can produce mental fatigue from the intense focus on your driving. This is especially true when you travel in heavy traffic. To avoid driver fatigue that increases the risk of accidents, we suggest taking:- A 15-minute break at least every two hours
- A 30-minute break at the four-hour mark
- Avoid distractions from children and pets while winter driving
Any parent can tell you it is nearly impossible to avoid referee or caretaker duties while driving with children in the car. However, this can distract you mentally and physically, so we recommend avoiding it as much as possible. To help minimize the potential distractions from childcare and pet care in the car, here are some strategies to help parents drive safely:- Have an adult sit next to a toddler or baby so that they can manage drinks and snacks safely.
- For older children, consider activity bags with snacks and games.
- If you use electronic devices or “screen time”, consider a family road trip as an “exempt” period where kids get longer screen time. Bring a long enough power cord to recharge devices in use.
- Secure pets in the backseat if at all possible.
- Eliminate phone distractions
According to data from Transport Canada's National Collision Database, distracted driving contributed to approximately 25.5% of serious injury collisions in 2021. Here are ways to guard against this distraction:- Put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode or turn it off completely.
- If you listen to streaming music, be sure to connect your playlist before you put your car into gear.
- If you use apps on your phone for navigation, set the destination before driving and secure the phone in your vehicle so it does not move about.
- Ensure your phone has successfully connected to Apple Carplay or Android Auto before you begin your trip.
- Turn on the audio alerts so you can anticipate turns and traffic ahead rather than looking at your phone.
Road safety is a shared responsibility
By observing best practices for holiday season driving, you’re protecting yourself and the other drivers who share the road. This is the best way to ensure everyone has a safe, happy, and memorable holiday season.
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