Thanksgiving travelers encouraged to use caution on Florida roadways

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV)
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)
Happy Thanksgiving, Arrive Alive

Tallahassee, Florida - Holiday travel and shopping increases the number of vehicles on the roadways, which traditionally increases the number of traffic crashes, with and without injury, as well as serious bodily injuries and fatalities. To encourage safe driving habits, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) has released Thanksgiving travel statistics which show a few compelling trends.

During the Thanksgiving holiday - the Wednesday before to the Sunday after Thanksgiving - from 2019 to 2022, there were 87,375 crashes, of which 938 had one or more people involved in the crash who were impaired by drugs, alcohol, or both.

On Thanksgiving week in 2022, over 28% of fatal crashes had one or more people involved impaired by drugs, alcohol, or both, bringing the likelihood of a fatal crash involving impaired driving to 36% greater than a fatality crash without impairment.

OTHER STATISTICS FROM 2022:
DAY / DATE FATAL WITHIN 30 DAYS INCAPACITATING INJURIES # CRASHES
Wednesday, November 23, 2022 15 41 2,043
Thursday, November 24, 2022 13 26 1,031
Friday, November 25, 2022 10 41 1,558
Saturday, November 26, 2022 20 60 1,433
Sunday, November 27, 2022 10 39 1,434
TOTALS 58 207 7,499

Impaired Driving

This holiday - and every day - the FHP reminds drivers that impaired driving is dangerous driving, it kills. Impairment is not limited to alcohol; it also includes prescription medication, marijuana, and other illegal narcotics. If you are impaired, your reaction time is affected, as are your concentration and hand-eye coordination, all of which are required to operate a vehicle safely. If you are impaired, we encourage you to use a ride-share service to protect you and others from potential harm.

Tired Driving

Additional safety reminders are to ensure you do not head out to your holiday destination or get behind the wheel to return when you are tired or have not had quality rest. Driving while drowsy is similar to driving while impaired and can cause the same delayed reaction time, lack of concentration, and hand-eye coordination, resulting in the same dangers.

Pedestrians

If you or your friends or family plan to participate in Thanksgiving activities, including shopping on “Black Friday,” we remind you of pedestrian or non-motorist safety. During the Thanksgiving Holiday season, pedestrians and other non-motorists were over 23 times more likely to die if involved in a car crash when compared to people inside a motor vehicle.

Make Sure Your Vehicle is Travel-Ready

Finally, always ensure your vehicle is travel-ready and in good condition before getting behind the wheel; if you end up needing assistance, you should always pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, and if you are a motorist passing by a situation like this where an individual is receiving assistance from first responders, service or utility vehicles always move over or slow down to ensure their safety.

Additional Tips

For additional holiday travel safety tips, visit https://www.flhsmv.gov/safety-center/driving-safety/holidaytravel/thanksgiving-holiday-safety/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.