Reducing the severity of crashes during holidays: are we targeting the right behaviors?

Holidays are times of recreation, rest and relaxation to be enjoyed with our loved ones. Hence, any road traffic accidents and the subsequent deaths and injuries tend to receive more media attention and evoke stronger public reactions because they are more tragic as they turn our merriment into grief and mourning. Consequently, many jurisdictions have implemented more aggressive police enforcement and publicity campaigns targeted at reducing risky driving behaviors during the holidays. However, relatively little formal research has been conducted to specifically identify the factors contributing to crashes during holidays. Using data from 1999-2008, this research endeavors to identify the behavioral factors that statistically and significantly contribute to the severity of holiday crashes involving two-vehicles. In addition, the impact of different control variables formed from crash, vehicle, road surface and other behavioral factors will also be explored. The results indicate that drivers' violation, drivers' error, drivers' intoxication and non-use of seat-belts significantly contribute to increasing the severity of holiday crashes. However, the impact of unsafe speeding is found to be insignificant in the study. The results obtained suggest that it may be time to consider a more balanced approach to the road safety blitzes conducted during holidays.