Labor Day weekend presented a perfect three-day getaway for families and individuals to be traveling on the roadways for the holiday weekend. It also usually provides a perfect weekend for having parties and consuming alcohol. Missouri residents were warned to be prepared over Labor Day weekend, and to take precautions from potential dangers on the road such as drunk driving accidents.
The National Safety Council recently released their annual report, which cites statistics related to Labor Day traffic accidents as well as some tips that make traveling around the holiday safer and more enjoyable. The Council estimated that there would be nearly 396 traffic fatalities throughout the country over the holiday weekend. They also projected that there may be around 42,200 medically consulted injuries as the result of motor vehicle collisions.
For the past six years, the Labor Day weekend has averaged 14.6 percent more traffic fatalities than similar non-holiday periods. Car accidents occur often over long weekends like Labor Day simply because more cars are on the roads, increasing the number of possible unsafe or impaired drivers. Due to this increase in traffic, many areas increased the police presence on the roads and increased the number of citations of speeders and impaired drivers.
It will be interesting to find out whether the predictions regarding the number of accidents made prior to the holiday weekend were correct, and how many of those were drunk driving accidents. Unfortunately, is it unlikely that no accidents occurred over the holiday weekend. For those in Missouri that found themselves injured in an accident, or worse, if a family lost a loved one, they have the right under our state law to file either a personal injury claim or a wrongful death claim against the party or parties deemed responsible.
Source: thecarconnection.com, Grim Prediction: Nearly 400 U.S. Traffic Fatalities Over The Labor Day Weekend, Richard Read, Aug. 22, 2013
