Finally, the holiday season is behind us. It is bittersweet. Of course, getting and giving gifts, having festive foods and having time off of work are just some of the wonderful aspects of the season. Then there is the dangerous situation of the holidays: unsafe Pennsylvania roads.
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s day are notoriously dangerous times on the roads throughout the country. That warning can sound cliché and like just a theory, that is until there are numbers to back it up. The Pennsylvania State Police have already compiled a list of traffic-related stats from the period of Dec. 31 to Jan. 2:
- Total combined number of motor vehicle accidents in Pennsylvania: 836
- Drunk driving accidents: 36
- Suspicion of DUI arrests: 220
- Speeding tickets: 3,013
These are just some of the traffic safety-related numbers from the recent holiday. More than a number is a life, and one person died in a Pennsylvania car accident over the holiday. Details of that fatal accident, including the victim, are undisclosed. That loss is an example of the tragedy that law enforcement and traffic safety officials try to prevent during high-risk times such as the New Year’s holiday.
According to the state police, 146 people suffered injuries in crashes during the short time period of the holiday. Whether someone was injured by a drunk driver, a distracted driver, a sleepy driver or any other negligent behavior, a crash victim has options. To learn more about one’s legal rights following a car accident, speaking with a personal injury lawyer is a wise first step.
Source: Pennsylvania State Police, “New Year’s Holiday Crashes Investigated by Pennsylvania State Police,” Jan 3, 2013