The Most Dangerous Times to Drive

Although most folks drive to work, school, or the grocery store with no problems, car accidents are a fact of transportation. If you know the most dangerous times to drive, you can take extra precautions to avoid accidents during those periods. The Texas Department of Transportation compiled this information for the entire state during 2015.

• Of the 3,138 fatal and non-fatal car crashes for the year, 316 happened in October, followed by 304 in July, and 284 in December. The safest month for driving was February with 215 incidents. The most dangerous day was Saturday, September 26, with 22 people killed in car crashes.
• Of those killed in accidents, 40.3 percent were reported as not wearing their seat belts. For motorcyclists, about 52 percent of those killed were not wearing helmets.
• Weekends showed the most dangerous days with Saturdays showing 571 accidents and Saturday with 558. The safest day was Tuesday at 375. There were no days in 2015 that were free of accident fatalities.
• The most dangerous hours were from 9 – 9:59 PM with 194 crashes, followed by 8 – 8:59 PM with 175. Tied for third with 173 incidents per hour were 6 – 6:59 PM and 2 – 2:59 AM. The safest hours with 78 accidents per hour were from 10 – 10:59 AM and 11 – 11:59 AM.
• Of the major holiday weekends, the 78 hours of Labor Day, which started at 6 PM Friday and ended on Monday, were the most dangerous with 40 fatal crashes and 49 fatalities. The safest was New Year’s, which started at 6 PM Thursday and ended on Sunday, with 30 fatal crashes and 32 fatalities.

If you or someone you care about is hurt in a car accident, please contact us.