Florida Freeway Patrol Encourages Thanksgiving Vacationers to Use Warning on Florida Roadways

over 28% of deadly crashes had a number of individuals concerned have been impaired~

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – As Floridians and guests journey our roadways this week and subsequent, Florida Freeway Patrol (FHP) releases Thanksgiving journey statistics to assist and promote public security messages encouraging protected driving habits whereas behind the wheel.

Vacation journey will increase automobiles on the roadways as motorists go to their buddies and households to have a good time the season, leading to elevated visitors statistics associated to crashes with and with out damage, together with severe bodily damage and fatalities.

Inside the vacation journey statistics are a couple of compelling traits which can be notable. From 2019 to 2022, throughout the Thanksgiving vacation (the Wednesday earlier than to the Sunday after), there have been 87,375 crashes, and 938 had a number of individuals concerned, impaired by medicine, alcohol, or each.

On Thanksgiving week in 2022, over 28% of deadly crashes had a number of individuals concerned impaired by medicine, alcohol, or each, bringing the chance of a fatality crash involving impaired driving to 36% higher than a fatality crash with out impairment.

This vacation and every single day, FHP reminds drivers that impaired driving is harmful driving, it kills.

Impairment will not be restricted to alcohol; it additionally contains prescription treatment, marijuana, and different unlawful narcotics.

If you’re impaired, your response time is affected, as are your focus and hand-eye coordination, all of that are required to function a automobile safely. If you’re impaired, we encourage you to make use of a ride-share service to guard you and others from potential hurt.

Extra security reminders are to make sure you don’t head out to your vacation vacation spot or get behind the wheel to return when you find yourself drained or haven’t had high quality relaxation. Driving whereas drowsy is just like driving whereas impaired and might trigger the identical delayed response time, lack of focus, and hand-eye coordination, leading to the identical risks.

In the event you or your mates or household plan to take part in Thanksgiving actions together with purchasing on “Black Friday,” we remind you of pedestrian or non-motorist security.

In the course of the Thanksgiving Vacation season, pedestrians and different non-motorists have been over 23 instances extra prone to die if concerned in a automotive crash when in comparison with individuals inside a motorized vehicle.

There have been 148 non-motorist fatalities throughout the 2019-2022 Thanksgiving Holidays.

As you journey the roadways, enter and exit driveways and parking heaps, and when backing out of parking areas bear in mind to search for pedestrians. If you’re on foot, it’s important to examine for automobiles and be protected and seen by motorists.

Lastly, at all times guarantee your automobile is travel-ready and in good situation earlier than getting behind the wheel; if you find yourself needing help, it’s best to at all times pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, and in case you are a motorist passing by a scenario like this the place a person is receiving help from first responders, service or utility automobiles at all times transfer over or decelerate to make sure their security.

FHP needs everybody a protected and joyful vacation; for extra vacation journey security suggestions, go to Thanksgiving Security – Florida Division of Freeway Security and Motor Autos (flhsmv.gov)