As we get closer to the holiday, expect a serious spike in travel for Christmas. Even last year, more than 85 million people traveled in the United States for the holiday. It stands to reason that the numbers will be substantially higher this year, so there will be a surge on the roads.
While it is true that a lot of people will probably fly and travel by other means, the majority of travel still happens on the roads. A lot of people aren’t taking lavish vacations or going a substantial distance, but they’re just driving between 10 and 50 miles to visit with family and friends. These people may not even consider this to be traveling, per se, but they’re still adding to higher traffic levels around the holidays.
What do these higher levels mean for you?
You may very well be one of the people who plan to travel, at least to a minor degree, so that you can be with extended family members or adult children who’ve moved out of the house. If so, you must know that you’re going to be sharing the road with a lot of other drivers who may be dealing with the same sort of holiday stress or the pressure to get places by a certain deadline. This can create some risks on the road.
Moreover, a lot of people may be traveling on roads they don’t usually take. They’re in unfamiliar areas, they’re trying to follow a GPS and they have Rowdy children in the car with them. This can all lead to confusion and mistakes, which may cause more accidents than you would normally have. When you add in the higher traffic levels and overall traffic congestion, you can see how much more dangerous things will get.
Finally, you may have people driving at times when they’re feeling tired or even exhausted. Maybe they’re just burned out from a big day celebrating, or maybe they’re driving late at night so their children can wake up at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s on Christmas morning. Either way, they’re not in the prime condition to drive safely and responsibly.
What can you do if you get injured?
No one wants to spend the holidays in the hospital, but it will be the reality for a lot of people who get injured in car accidents this year. If this happens to you, make sure you know how you can seek compensation from the driver who caused that accident.
