Risky driving patterns are most prevalent in the lead-up and aftermath of the holiday season, a recent report found.
In a blog post published December 6 by the data software company Samsara, entitled “New Data Shows the Dangerous Side of Holiday Travel, Plus Tips on Staying Safe,” sudden, hard braking (also known as harsh braking) was 22% higher the week before Thanksgiving and 13% higher after the holiday when compared to the week of Thanksgiving.
Speeding incidents were also 21% higher before and 22% higher after the week of Thanksgiving.
Nine of the ten states that saw the highest level of speeding before and after Thanksgiving were located on the East Coast of the U.S. The only state that cracked the top ten not located on the East Coast was Hawaii.
The study also found that trips starting between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. had the highest instances of speeding. Conversely, speeding incidents were less likely to occur when trips start late at night, specifically between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.
“These results suggest that professional drivers aren’t speeding when there is a relatively open road in front of them late at night, but rather at times when there are likely more drivers on the road,” wrote the blog’s author and Samsara’s senior applied scientist Jesse Russell. “Our data reflects conclusions from the NHTSA that show traffic congestion is a top contributing factor to aggressive driving behaviors, including speeding.”
Samsara suggested that travelers watch out for distracted drivers, add extra time to their driving itinerary and respect trucks and other non-passenger vehicles to ensure safer driving patterns year-round.
Data for the blog post was based on the historical information of thousands of Samsara customers in the U.S. during 2022 and 2023.
