Seat belts? Sober driving? Of course. But these lesser-known tips save lives too
HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) — This Thanksgiving travel period could be Pennsylvania's busiest ever.
Safety leaders now want to avoid setting other, more dubious records. That means wearing seat belts and driving sober, of course.
Impaired driving killed 41 people on Pennsylvania roads during the Thanksgiving-to-New-Year's-Day travel period a year ago, and an estimated 346 unbuckled people who died in Pennsylvania crashes in all of 2021 could have survived if they were properly restrained, according to state figures.
But it also means several lesser-known yet important safety tips.
First, the good news. Arrivalist, a travel data analytics firm that tracks road travel based on GPS data, forecasts this will be the year Pennsylvania road trips finally surpass pre-pandemic levels. Arrivalist forecasts 3 percent more Pennsylvania road trips (defined as trips more than 50 miles from home) for this year's Thanksgiving travel period compared to 2019. That follows a 38 percent drop in 2020 compared to 2019 and a 2021 period that came close to matching 2019 levels but didn't (down 4 percent).
Now, the important but underappreciated tips:
- Distracted driving doesn't only involve your phone. "It's difficult to be driving when you're not used to those long family trips anymore because of the pandemic," said Mark Compton, CEO of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. "Kids and their devices and frustration cause a lot of distractions for the driver. Make sure you compartmentalize that to the back seat. Keep yourself focused on the road. If there is an issue back there, find a safe spot to pull over to take care of that."
- Take care of your car, too. That means doing a basic inspection before you leave home. "I can't tell you how many crashes we see with folks who haven't checked their tires," Compton said. "That's tire pressure, and it's also tread on those tires."
- Remember the 'Move Over' law. When you see an emergency vehicle or a disabled vehicle, try to move over one lane. If you can't, slow down to 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit. But "drivers should gradually slow down rather than slamming on their brakes, as this could potentially cause a chain reaction crash," said Lt. Col. Jeremy Richard, deputy commissioner of operations for Pennsylvania State Police.
