While often a time of joy, the holiday season can also pose serious injury risks to innocent victims. With more drivers on the roads and shoppers in grocery and retail stores, accidents (including car crashes, slips and falls, and more) occur with alarming frequency during the time period from Thanksgiving to New Years. In an effort to stay safe during the holidays, take these potential threats to personal safety into consideration.
1. Weather. Be aware of weather changes when driving or walking. Even in Los Angeles, where rainfall is rare, roads can become slippery in the fall and winter. So Cal drivers are often not comfortable with rainfall and slippery driving conditions, leading to innocent victims being injured when the other driver fails to reduce their speed or allow more time to brake. Additionally, rain can turn sidewalks in front of grocery stores and shopping malls (where the business owner likely has a duty to provide reasonably safe conditions to shoppers) to slippery, icy walkways; resulting in an increase in the number of slip and fall accidents.
2. Alcohol. With work and pleasure holiday parties occurring almost every night of the week during the month of December, car accidents caused by drunk driving are extremely common during the holiday season. In fact, according to MADD, “the time period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day includes some of the most dangerous days for drunk driving deaths.” While victims of drunk driving accidents can consider filing a civil action against the drunk driver to seek financial recovery for damages suffered in the accident, it is best to avoid such accidents by designating a driver who will not be drinking that evening.
3. Traffic. Other seasonal driving hazards include heavy traffic around shopping malls. Shoppers in a rush to snatch up the best deals may not be not paying the best attention to the road. With holiday-related diversions (buying gifts, preparing family meals, and readying homes for visitors) on one’s mind, distracted driving during the holidays is an issue. Whenever it is you or a loved one behind the wheel of a vehicle, make sure the road is receiving the driver’s undivided attention.
For more safety tips on how to avoid accidents during the holidays, or to discuss bringing a lawsuit against a negligent driver or business owner, contact the aggressive personal injury lawyers at BIKLaw today for a free consultation about your potential case.