Tennessee residents looking forward to a joyous holiday season should be aware of the danger posed by drunk drivers at this time of year.
The 2015 winter holiday season is fast approaching. Friends and family members throughout Tennessee are no doubt in the throes of planning their festivities. Sadly, in the midst of these joyous expectations lives the possibility that tragedy can strike. Drunk drivers pose serious risks to innocent people every day of the year but the danger can be even greater during the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's.
One Tennessee family knows this all too well. WMCActionNews5.com reported on the death of a man after being hit by a drunk driver while riding his bike on Christmas Eve. The accident occurred in Mississippi where the victim was attending college and playing football. His sister and mother in Memphis received a call informing them of the fatal accident on Christmas Day.
How deadly can holidays be?
The National Safety Council explains that on the list of the six most deadly holidays in the U.S. due to drunk drivers, New Year's, Christmas and Thanksgiving all appear. In fact, Thanksgiving ranks higher for its level of danger than the other two holidays.
This could be due in part to the fact that this holiday always spans a weekend which is known to increase drunk driving activity. This year, however, all three holidays will include weekends which could make this a somber holiday season for even more people.
BACtrack.com adds that the time period between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day sees a jump in the number of arrests for drunk driving.
Numbers make the story clearer
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took drunk driving fatality data from holidays between 2001 and 2005 and compared it. Information shows the following:
- For non-holiday December dates, 33 daily drunk driving deaths occurred, accounting for 28 percent of all accident deaths.
- For Christmas holiday dates, 45 daily drunk driving deaths occurred, accounting for 38 percent of all accident deaths.
- For New Year's holiday dates, 54 daily drunk driving deaths occurred, accounting for 41 percent of all accident deaths.
For the rest of the calendar years, the average daily drunk driving deaths numbered 36 or 31 percent of all accident fatalities. These numbers make it easy to see the increased dangers that people in Tennessee and around the nation face at these special times.
Legal involvement can help
People who suffer from or lose loved ones in drunk driving accidents deserve help. An attorney can be beneficial in seeking the appropriate compensation for these situations.