Holiday Weekend Travel Safety Advice | DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog

Labor Day weekend is considered the last summer holiday period, that final trip to the beach, that long weekend get-away before getting back to the regular routine activities and travels.  AAA projects that about 40 million Americans will be traveling for this year’s Labor Day weekend.  Remembering some simple common sense tips should help drivers travel safely on this dangerous weekend.

• Before traveling, do a “walk around” with your car.  Check the basics, such as tires, fluids, and wipers. Service your cooling and radiator system.  Stranded travelers often could have avoided getting stranded by checking the basics in advance.
• Know where you are going before leaving on your trip, by checking a map or GPS system, if necessary.  Many accidents are caused by sudden lane changes and stops by drivers who are trying to determine where they are going after starting out on the trip.
• Leave early enough to maintain a reasonable speed, without resorting to excessive speed or impatience with other drivers.
• Use common sense to avoid truckers’ blind spots or cut off other drivers.
• Carry a cell phone, but pull off the road to use it.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over the Labor Day weekend of 2008, nearly 40 percent of all fatal crashes involved a drunk driver. In addition, impaired drivers were responsible for almost 12,000 fatal crashes nationwide in 2008. As in previous years, local law enforcement agencies are participating in the national campaign to stop impaired driving.

2009 Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. Crackdown

• In 2007, 32 percent of fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes involved at least one driver or motorcycle rider with a BAC of .08 or above — an average of one fatality every 39 minutes.
• That’s why U.S. law enforcement agencies will be aggressively enforcing impaired-driving laws during the national crackdown — at all times of the day and night.
• The national Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. impaired-driving crackdown is a program organized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
• The program combines high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness. This year’s crackdown is supported by $11 million in paid national advertising to help put motorists on notice that if they are caught driving while impaired, they will be arrested.
• Don’t take the risk. Law enforcement officers are on a mission to arrest impaired drivers, get them off the street, save more lives — and make the 2009 crackdown count. Remember: Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.
• Our policy is zero tolerance for underage drinking. Our law makes it illegal for a person under age 21 to operate a motor vehicle with any alcohol in his or her system. Remember, that’s the law and it will be absolutely enforced – during this crackdown and throughout the year.

For more information on the crackdown, visit the High-Visibility Enforcement Campaign Headquarters at www.StopImpairedDriving.org.