Why New Haven Auto Accidents May Be Deadlier On The Weekends

When you’re zipping up the highway on your work during the week you may be stunned at how many cars on the road. You might think to yourself, with all this congestion there is no way that it is more likely that a New Haven auto accident on the weekend would be deadlier then something that would happen during the week, but it turns out you may be wrong.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) accidents that occur on the weekends are often more fatal than those that occur during the week. In fact, Saturday is the culprit for having the most crashes that are fatal. Conventional wisdom may tell you that there’s no way this could be, but the statistics spell it out pretty clearly. There are more fatal accidents on the weekends then there are during the week.

Why would this be the case? It may seem that there is more congestion on highways during the week. You may think that distracted driving is more likely during the week as people are caught up in thinking about work or talking on the phone to colleagues about issues at the office. It seems that there are more people going to and from destinations during the week. All of this may be your perception of the way traffic patterns occur, but truthfully the statistics don’t bear this out. The NHTSA breaks out auto accidents by day and time and it is clear that weekend traffic leads to higher rates of fatal accidents.

All of the myths have been dispelled so here are the real reasons why traffic accidents become more fatal and dangerous on the weekends then during the week.

1.) Traffic volume INCREASES on the weekends. As hard as this is to believe, the NHTSA reports that there are more people on the road during the weekend than there are during the week. With people running around doing errands, traveling and socializing, traffic volume actually increases on the weekend. Since this is the case, the higher the traffic volume the more likely an accident is going to be to occur.

2.) There is more impaired driving on the weekends than during the week. Common sense will tell you that as people are traveling and experiencing recreation they are more likely to consume alcohol or recreational drugs and when that occurs and these folks get behind the wheel they are putting their lives and the lives of their passengers and anyone they are sharing the road with at risk. Regardless of the time of the week it is critical that if you’ve consumed alcohol or used recreational drugs you find a ride home through a ride share service or a designated driver.

3.) Late night driving increases on the weekends. When people are traveling or out socializing they are often getting on the road later at night than they might otherwise do during the week. This leads to lower visibility and also a higher instance of drowsy driving which can have devastating impacts on your ability to operate your vehicle safely. Many fatal accidents on the weekend happen in between the hours of 10PM and 2AM. It is important that if you are traveling in between these hours that you are alert and aware of your surroundings.

While it may surprise you that the number of New Haven auto accident that occur during the weekend may be higher then those that happen during the week, the NHTSA numbers show that this is a trend nationwide. It means that you should be diligent in your efforts to follow safety protocols while driving at any time of day or on any day of the week because you never know what the driver next to you or in front of you is doing, so you must take your own safety in your own hands.

If you do get into an accident you may need to speak with an attorney. Our attorneys are experienced with all different variations of situations and have likely seen a situation that is similar to the one you find yourself in. Contact our office and one of our attorneys will work with you to understand your situation and then protect your long-term interests.