Roads are safer on New Year’s Day than other holidays, despite concerns of revelers driving drunk in the early morning hours.
Of six large holidays, New Year’s is the second-most safe on average. From 2006 to 2012, there were an average of 336 driving deaths per year on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day combined. Only Independence Day had fewer fatalities, averaging 308 per year over the same time period. Christmas, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving all averaged more deaths per year than New Year’s. Thanksgiving had the highest fatality rate, with an average of 524 per year.
The deadliest holiday from 2006 to 2012 was Thanksgiving 2012, when 694 people were killed in car accidents nationwide. The safest holiday in that time period was Christmas 2007, when only 157 people were killed in car accidents.
These data do not account for the number of drivers or total miles travelled on a given holiday. Thanksgiving may be the deadliest holiday for driving because more people drive longer distances. Independence Day may have fewer drivers because of summertime gas prices.
As for New Year’s, if fatalities are concentrated in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, that may make driving during those hours more dangerous than driving at any time of day on Thanksgiving.
Averaging the data over seven years is more useful than looking at individual-year driving data, since weather conditions and gas prices in a given year may have affected miles travelled and road safety on a holiday.
The aforementioned data come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Alcohol’s involvement in fatal crashes per year has been on the decline, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. As a share of total fatalities, deaths in alcohol-related crashes fell from 48 percent in 1985 to 36 percent in 2012. Total fatalities in alcohol-related crashes have fallen by 43 percent, from 21,098 in 1985 to 12,041 in 2012. Crashes are considered alcohol-related are when the driver has a blood alcohol concentration level above 0.01.
Drivers with a BAC level above 0.08, the legal limit in every state for drivers over 21 years old, have also been killing fewer people. Fatalities from legally impaired drivers are down 43 percent, from 18,125 in 1985 to 10,322 in 2012.
Of course, these data do not excuse impaired driving. Have fun celebrating the new year, but be safe on the roads.
