This article was originally published in the CDC website.

Driving safely in the festive season is necessary. The festive season involves a lot of people travelling from one location to the other in order to celebrate the holidays with family and loved ones. Unfortunately, this surge in road users almost always results in an increase in the occurrence of road accidents.

Key Points:

The festive season involves a lot of people travelling from one location to another in order to celebrate the holidays with family and loved ones. Driving safely in the festive season is necessary for your sake and that of other road users.
Driving safely in the festive season involves adhering to some safety tips for all drivers are: do not drive when you are impaired by alcohol and/or drugs; and avoid distractions while driving.
Buckle children in age- and size-appropriate car seats. Children are safest when car seats and booster seats are used correctly. Children aged 12 and under should be properly buckled in the back seat of the vehicle.
Explain the tip for driving safely in the festive season to your teen. Supervise your teen while driving over the holidays to ensure he or she is driving safely in the festive season. Also, ensure your teen buckles up in every seating position and on every trip.
Driving helps older adults stay mobile and independent. To follow the rules of driving safely in the festive season, ensure you ask your doctor or pharmacist to review your medication, endeavour to have your eyes checked by an eye doctor at least once a year, and consider alternatives to driving, such as riding with a friend, using public transit, or using a ride-sharing service to get around.

In this article, we outline helpful safety tips to ensure you are driving safely in the festive season irrespective of the category of road users you belong to.

Safety Tips for all Drivers

Do not drive when you are impaired by alcohol and/or drugs, and do not allow your family members or friends to drive while impaired. In 2017, drunk driving contributed to more than 10,800 crash deaths.¹ If you drink alcohol and/or use drugs, you should designate a non-drinking driver, call a taxi, or use a ride-share service.
Avoid distractions while driving, such as using your cell phone to text, email, or access social media. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for at least five seconds. At 55 miles per hour, that is like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. You cannot drive safely unless the task of driving has your full attention.
Check the weather conditions before you head out on the road. Make sure to drive at a speed that is safe for road and weather conditions.

pexels photo 5273223 — *Photo credit: Pexel*

Child Passenger Safety Tips

Motor vehicle crash injuries are a leading cause of death among children², but you can make a difference by making sure kids are properly buckled on every ride. Driving safely in the festive season involves the ability to protect yourself and your children and keep the holiday season injury free.

Buckle children in age- and size-appropriate car seats, booster seats, and seat belts, which reduce the risk for injury in a car crash by up to 80 percent.
Children are safest when car seats and booster seats are used correctly. Buckle children the right way in the right seat while driving safely in the festive season and learn how to avoid the most common mistakes.
Remember that bulky/puffy coats should not be used underneath a car seat harness. Bulky clothing makes it difficult to tighten a car seat harness properly. A loose harness is very dangerous and can lead to serious injuries and even ejection from the car seat.
Properly buckle the harness first. Then, place a coat or blanket over the buckled child. This will not interfere with the harness and will still keep the child warm.
Remember that children aged 12 and under should be properly buckled in the back seat of the vehicle.
driving safely in the festive season entails the ability to set a good example by always using a seat belt yourself.

Tips for Teen Driver Safety

Do you know the leading causes of teen crashes and injuries, including driver inexperience, driving with teen passengers, nighttime driving, and not using seat belts?
Discuss the rules of driving safely in the festive season with your teen.
Get in some supervised driving time with your teen over the holidays while he/she is not in school. Practicing driving under your supervision in different kinds of weather is helpful for providing your teen with valuable driving experience in varied conditions.
Require your teen to buckle up in every seating position and on every trip. Set a good example by doing the same while driving safely in the festive season. Using seat belts can reduce the risk of death or serious injury in a motor vehicle crash by about half.³

Older Adult Driver Safety Tips

Driving helps older adults stay mobile and independent. However, the risk of being injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash increases as people age. Thankfully, if you are an older adult driver, there are steps you can take driving safely in the festive season.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist to review your medication—both prescription and over-the-counter—to reduce side effects and interactions that could affect your ability to drive. when you consider driving safely in the festive season, ensure you do the proper check-up with the healthcare professionals.
Driving safely in the festive season require a good eye sight. Have your eyes checked by an eye doctor at least once a year. Wear glasses and corrective lenses as directed.
Consider alternatives to driving, such as riding with a friend, using public transit, or using a ride share service to get around.

How telemedicine can help

Telemedicine has become something revolutionary in today’s quickly changing healthcare industry by enabling people to communicate with medical professionals from a distance. This creative strategy makes use of technology to improve the convenience and accessibility of medical services while ensure you are driving safely in the festive season.

It is getting easier for you to select an alternative to traditional healthcare providers as online health care becomes more accessible. Less trouble over the holiday season is one of the benefits of telemedicine.

Driving safely in the festive season is a necessity, and you should also ensure you have access to the internet if you will be spending the holidays away from home. That way, you can have access to healthcare professionals in an emergency.

Telemedicine has made it easy that, when consulting with a doctor virtually, you can obtain prompt assistance for any medical issue you may be experiencing. You can still communicate with your doctor through phone, text, or video chat, even if you are in a far-off place.

You can access healthcare professionals through telemedicine services like Kompletecare from any location on the globe.

Nobody goes on a journey with the hope of experiencing unfortunate events on the road, but one can drive safely in the festive season to avoid any form of road accidents. In the event of seasonal diseases or accidents, you can get timely care with telemedicine, which uses internet services to address healthcare needs.

It is a fantastic idea to use internet medical resources. Through telemedicine, a doctor can deliver specialty treatment in your home, eliminating the need for you to physically visit the doctor. Even if you are not in the office, your doctor can still offer you guidance. You can stay at home and consult with them over the phone or via SMS.

There are better treatment outcomes for all parties involved, which result from the ability to communicate with clinicians and view photos of injuries, as the case may be in real-time through telemedicine.

Frequently asked questions

1.Why does the public need to be more careful during festive season?

During the holidays, there is a sharp rise in traffic accidents, which result in hundreds of fatalities. to ensure you maintain driving safely in the festive season, make sure your car is in good condition by having it checked out before heading to your location in order to be safe. You should always use seat belts, as should your passengers.

2. Is it safe to drive during the holidays?

Driving safely in the festive is always the wise thing to do, but most people will wonder if it is really safe to drive during the holiday. It is shown that the dangers of reckless driving practices, such as speeding and hard braking, rise around the holidays. Festive seasons often have a higher number of automobile traffic fatalities than non-holiday seasons that is why adhering to the rules of road while you are driving safely in the festive season is necessary.

3. What is the difference between festive and festival?

Festive involves balloons, elegant attire, delicious meals, and other celebratory items and events. However, a festival is an occasion that is typically observed by a community and that revolves around a particular feature of that community’s religion or culture.

4. How can we reduce the number of road deaths that occur every festive season?

The number of death tolls on the road can be reduced by driving safely in the festive season.

You can apply some tips to make driving safely in the festive season a success. There are some tips:

Every two hours, or 200 kilometers, take a safety break.
After getting some rest, have an energy drink, and carry on.
A vehicle approaching should be well out of the main beam range while the headlights are lowered.
Make sure that everyone in the car is wearing their seat belts and wears them consistently.
Maintain both hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road at all times.
Avoid multitasking while driving, like eating, drinking, chatting on the phone, adjusting the stereo, watching TV, or using the navigation system.
Follow the stipulated speed limit.
Driving safely in the festive season require you to observe all traffic signals.

5. What are some safety precautions that you can take while driving?

Driving safely in the festive season involves observing these safety guidelines:

Show consideration for other motorists.
All riders should always wear seat belts, day or night.
When operating a vehicle, pay attention, concentrate on the road, put your phone aside, or switch it off.
When the weather is terrible, drive according to the conditions and slow down.
All stop signs and red lights should be observed religiously.
When it is safe and you have the right of way, proceed cautiously.
Never operate a vehicle after taking medication or other drugs that make you drowsy, including alcohol.

6. What is the best slogan for road safety?

The road safety slogans while you are driving in the festive season are:

You are better late than never!

Put on your seat belt to prevent death!

Your final drive can be a quick one.

Your best instruments are traffic safety regulations.

Accidents do not just happen; they are caused.

Overspeeding is deadly.

Get wasted and lose it.

7. What four obligations do users of the road have?

To make our roads safer for everyone, it is the duty of every road user to abide by traffic safety regulations. Four obligations for road users are:

Modifying your driving style to increase security.
Follow the law for a safer travel experience.
Road safety as well as car maintenance.
Make travel arrangements and be ready for an unexpected roadside situation.

8. What is the 3 second rule used for driving?

The 3 second rule is that your car should arrive or stop at the same spot in three seconds or less. This indicates that there is enough room between your car and the one in front of you, and if the motorist in front of you uses their brakes unexpectedly, you should have enough time to slow down or halt.

9. What are some signs of an aggressive driver?

While you are driving safely in the festive season, look out for aggressive drivers with features such as:

Driving too fast in congested areas.
Driving too fast.
Cutting off another driver and slowing down after being in front.
Driving through the red lights.
Swerving around other vehicles.
Lane shifting without giving a warning.
Obstructing vehicles trying to merge or overtake.

11. What is aim high in steering?

One of the best tips for driving safely in the festive is to aim high in steering. When driving on the road, drivers should aim high, which means they should be gazing ahead 10 to 15 seconds. Basically, where is my car going to be in the next ten to fifteen seconds? Drivers will be able to recognize possible threats sooner and have more time to react appropriately.

12. How can you control your emotions when you drive?

Listed below are a couple pointers that can help you remain safe and prevent emotional driving whenever circumstances do not go well for you.

Breathe deeply for a while.
Then, take a break.
Play some relaxing music.
Consider something different.
Reduce your speed.
Request that another person drive.

13. Who is responsible for safe vehicles?

Although governments, automakers, auto insurance companies, and other stakeholders share responsibility for road safety, there are numerous things drivers may do to make the road safer while driving safely in the festive season.

References

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA). Traffic Safety Facts 2017: A Compilation of Motor Vehicle Crash Data. [cited 2019 November 13]. Available from URL: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812806external icon.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). [cited 2019 November 13]. Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars.

Kahane CJ. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Lives saved by vehicle safety technologies and associated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, 1960 to 2012–Passenger cars and LTVs–With reviews of 26 FMVSS and the effectiveness of their associated safety technologies in reducing fatalities, injuries, and crashes (Report No. DOT HS 812 069). Released January 2015. Available from URL: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812069external icon.

His. (2024). 15 rules for defensive driving.

News in Health. (2020). Safe driving: Protecting yourself behind.

Secure medical. (2021). How online health care is the best option for you during the holidays.

Southeastern Driver Training Centre. (n.d). A break down of Smith system.

Texas Department of Transportation. (2024). Be safe. Drive smart.

Vuk’uzenzele. (2018). Tips to keep you safe this festive season.