While we typically don’t have postcard holidays with snow on Christmas morning and a frosting on Edinburg street lights, we enjoy the season as much as anyone anywhere. We enjoy holiday get-togethers with family and friends and enjoy shopping across the Rio Grande Valley as much as the next person.
With all the holiday to and fro come increased risks of car accidents and injuries, however. A recent news article pointed out that there are approximately 6 million motor vehicle crashes across the U.S. every year, with more than 40,000 fatalities.
Some of the most common causes of crashes are easily identified:
- Impaired drivers
- Distracted drivers
- Speeding drivers
But many other factors are involved in crashes, according to safety expert and writer Steve Casner. The author of “Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds” says he has analyzed data from the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey and determined that the most common causes of crashes include the following:
- Asleep at the wheel: falling asleep while driving accounts for 7 percent of all car accidents, he says, and 21 percent of all fatal wrecks. The solution is simple enough: you know the amount of sleep you need to be well-rested and safe on the road. Get it.
- Loss of control: people who lose control of their vehicles account for about 11 percent of all crashes. They are often speeding or not paying attention to weather conditions before they lose control.
- Rolling on red: people who roll through red lights while making a right turn account for 6 percent of all pedestrian fatalities. Worst of all, of those fatalities, 21 percent are children. Solution: come to a complete stop before making your right turn on red. Look both ways and then proceed.
Please drive carefully over the holidays.