People who drink and drive are often habitual alcohol users. Some of them drink daily or go out every weekend and engage in binge drinking. Others may only drink at social gatherings but might choose to drive home when they are in an intoxicated state.
Individuals never know when they might encounter a drunk driver. They could end up hurt late at night or on their way to work in the morning. However, when looking at drunk driving crash statistics, there are some trends that are easy to identify. Specifically, one season is more dangerous than the other three.
The summer sees an increase in drunk driving wrecks
There are four seasons that each last three months, so it would make sense for each season to have roughly 25% of the drunk driving fatalities that occur each year. The risk isn’t evenly split among the seasons. A long-term analysis of drunk driving fatalities shows that each season has a slightly different degree of risk.
Experts estimate that 28% of the year’s fatal drunk driving crashes take place during the summer months. Part of that elevated risk has to do with the major holidays during the summer months. Memorial Day, Labor Day and Independence Day all see a significant increase in drunk driving crashes. People go to parties or barbecues and then decide to drive home even though they have enjoyed multiple alcoholic beverages. Those who don’t normally drink may overindulge, and those who habitually drink may use any excuse to justify their habits.
The summer also sees many high school students and college students out on the road, possibly after having too much to drink. Clearly, drivers can’t simply stay off the roads during the summer because they want to avoid drunk drivers. Still, they may need to adjust their habits to screen the conduct of others more carefully. Those who identify and avoid impaired drivers in traffic can limit their risk of a crash, but not everyone has a chance to avoid impaired motorists in traffic.
If someone does end up hurt in a crash caused by a drunk driver, then they may need to hold that person accountable. Filing an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit is a reasonable reaction to a drunk driving collision.
