You can get into a serious car accident any time you leave the house. It’s a risk every driver and passenger in America faces. Accidents are common, and many people don’t realize the real toll that they take, with more than 35,000 deaths every year.
One thing that is interesting about accident trends is that the weekends tend to see a spike in fatal accidents, while weekdays see the most nonfatal accidents. You can’t always choose when you’re going to drive, but this statistic shows you may be best off to avoid weekend driving if you are able to.
Why do the statistics look like this? There are a few reasons. For one thing, alcohol use also tends to spike on the weekends. This can lead to drunk driving and reckless driving. These accidents are more likely to be dangerous and even fatal, either for those causing them or for others on the road.
Weekday accidents, on the other hand, may happen in rush hour traffic around the average commuter’s work schedule. There are more cars on the road, and that congestion leads to traffic jams. These, in turn, lead to accidents. However, a crash in a traffic jam may happen at a far lower speed, making it more likely to result in property damage and injuries and less likely to result in a fatality.
What is clear, though, is that you face some real risks no matter when you drive. If you get injured in an accident or lose a loved one, you may be able to seek compensation from the driver who was responsible.