The summer months are an ideal time to go out for a pleasure cruise on New Jersey roads. The scenery around the state is particularly lovely in the warmer seasons, and people may choose to drive for family vacations or just to get out of the house.
Unfortunately, although most people would think of the winter as being the season with the most traffic risks, there are unique seasonal safety concerns that contribute to crashes during the summer months as well. In fact, certain forms of crash risk are higher in the summer than at any other point during the year.
More teen driving concerns
Some experts refer to the summer months as the deadliest time of year for teen drivers. There are more fatal crashes involving young adults at the wheel when school is out for the summer than at any other point during the year. Teen drivers either out with friends or on their way to a summer job are a bigger safety risk than students generally are during the cooler months.
More drunk drivers
When looking at the distribution of fatal drunk driving crashes throughout the year, there’s a very concerning trend that emerges. Specifically, there are more fatal drunk driving collisions during the summer than in any other season throughout the year. In fact, many of those crashes tend to occur either on major summer holidays or the weekends closest to them. Independence Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day all see a noticeable uptick in drunk driving fatalities.
More tourist traffic
From people headed to a family reunion out of state to drivers visiting New Jersey as part of their family summer vacation, there will be more people unfamiliar with local roads around the state during the summer months. Tourists are more likely to engage in distracted driving and also sometimes drunk driving because they may feel as though they need to reach their hotel despite having had too much to drink at dinner.
All of those risks combined make the summer a somewhat dangerous time to be on the road in New Jersey. Learning about these seasonal crash risks may help people to be more proactive about ensuring their own safety when on the road this summer.