The holiday time is one that is often marked by local car travel for Connecticut residents. This might include going to or from parties, dinners and other events with friends, families and co-workers. This travel might also entail longer distance trips to visit relatives who live out of the area. Either way, being on the roads and highways at this time of year is not always something people look forward to.
The concern about travelling during holiday times is that there may be an increased number of drunk drivers around. This, in turn, increases the risk of being hit by those drunk drivers. According to The Westerly Sun, law enforcement teams in both Connecticut and Rhode Island were busy over the 2018 holiday season responding to vehicle accidents and arresting impaired drivers.
In Connecticut, 36 drivers were arrested for drunk driving over a short five-day period spanning December 28 through January 1. During this same timeframe, there were 339 reported accidents throughout the state. Of those accidents, 54 involved injuries to at least one person. Officers wrote more than 2,000 traffic tickets. A total of 480 tickets were for speeding.
In neighboring Rhode Island, 16 drivers were arrested for drunk driving between December 20 and January 1. A total of 165 collisions were responded to by law enforcement teams. Here, more than 1,000 traffic tickets were issued and 417 of those tickets were for speeding. Driving after drinking and speeding are two factors commonly associated with accidents and both are completely within the control of drivers. If the people who chose to drive drunk or to speed would make other choices, many accidents may be avoided.