During the holiday season, instances of intoxicated driving rise almost across the board. More people are drinking than usual, and more people are out on the road, too. It is a recipe for disaster.
One of the best ways to tackle this risk is by understanding more about it. Exactly what are the statistics related to holiday drinking?
Why do holidays bring out DUI drivers?
Alcohol.org discusses holiday binge drinking and the potential problems it brings with it. Many holidays have a history of excessive drinking, with the period of Christmas to New Year’s Day serving as the biggest binge drinking holidays. As early as Thanksgiving, people begin to start drinking excessively.
Unfortunately, the holiday season offers many more opportunities for people to overindulge in alcohol compared to an average day. There are many more parties, many opportunities for groups to get together and encourage one another to drink more, and a generally shared mentality that overindulging during the holidays is fine or even expected.
Even worse, many people travel during the holidays, taking cars to get to and from the homes of relatives or friends so they can celebrate the festivities together.
Knowing the risk of night driving
As usual, the night time is always worse for potential DUI incidents compared to traveling during the day. Most people are situated within their homes at that time and will spend the day drinking, leading to the driver being intoxicated to a degree by the time it is getting late, and people want to start heading home.
Where possible, it is always a good idea to stay overnight rather than driving on the night of a big holiday. Beyond that, never get behind the wheel after having a drink.