SAN DIEGO — The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve is one of the busiest travel times of the year, and with that comes more car crash fatalities during the holiday season. California Highway Patrol (CHP) shared tips with CBS 8 on how to stay safe on the roadways.
The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve is one of the busiest travel times of the year, and with that comes more car crash fatalities during the holiday season.
“It’s more dangerous, especially approaching the holidays. We’ve got too many cars on the roads, you know,” said Jose Cardenas, who is visiting from Arizona.
“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy, traffic is built up at certain hours of the day. It seems like it just doesn’t stop anymore,” said Escondido resident, Brandon Cooper.
More people travelling and more cars on the road means more opportunity for vehicle collisions. During this time of year, more people are out shopping for gifts and running errands for holiday festivities.
“Definitely more cars out on the road, everywhere,” said Cooper. “People flock to this area because the climate’s beautiful and so that’s where everybody vacations.”
During this time of year, we see more rain and that means tougher driving conditions.
“When it does, none of us know how to drive in the rain, so it just gets crazier and crazier,” said Cooper while on his way to Santee Lakes for a camping trip with his family.
“It is tough driving, I had to go to Murrietta yesterday and it was raining and there was a lot of car accidents on the way,” said Cardenas.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, CHP says they made more than 1,000 DUI-related arrests across the state. Here in San Diego, at least 5 separate fatal crashes occurred around the county, one of them on State Route 94 where 4 people lost their lives, none of whom were wearing seatbelts.
“Most people wear their seatbelts, 97% compliance rate. Unfortunately, half of our fatalities can be attributed to the 3% that don’t wear their seatbelt, so that’s a huge number,” said CHP Officer Jake Sanchez.
Getting plenty of sleep to avoid fatigue and avoiding distractions are key to staying safe on the roads and freeways.
“Please wear your seatbelt, slow down and have a plan,” said Sanchez. “If you’re drinking and driving, there’s so many options today you have, whether it’s ride-share, getting a ride, getting dropped off, whatever it is, plan ahead.”
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