Holiday Road Safety
By Michelle Pippin Specialty Publications

Traveling for the holidays? At no time throughout the year are their more families filling the roadways than during holiday travel. Caution must be your constant road companion when venturing out to visit the grandchildren on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tallied 5,190 persons killed on the roadways in traffic crashes from January through December. Of those, 20 percent occurred during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons.

The holiday travel seasons are classified as the three or four days surrounding the actual holiday. For example, Thanksgiving holiday travel times begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, before Thanksgiving Day, and run through midnight, Sunday. Christmas holiday travel generally consists of two days before Christmas day, and includes the full day after.

Use the following statistical facts to help plan safe holiday traveling for your family this year: