The holidays are upon us! Which means hundreds will die accidental deaths.
Sorry for this burst of sweetness and light, but a law firm caught our eye with its “Normalized Bloody Score” of holiday mayhem, and we set out in search of similar statistics. A bit ghoulish, perhaps, but we all have a wee macabre streak at this time of year, right?
Turns out myriad law firms produce dark missives about impending holiday doom, drawing on data from the National Safety Council, the Gun Violence Archive and other official number-crunchers, to presumably sell their services to those interested in suing, post-disaster.
But selling aside, those official sources show that spikes in accidental deaths and unintended shootings at the holidays are real — and preventable. Our point here is to remind you to be smart and safe: Don’t drink and drive, and/or drink and play with guns. Call an Uber or a Lyft if you’re out and have been tippling. Keep the firearms unloaded in the lock safe and remain calm when politics comes up at the holiday dinner table.
“Most Americans look forward to a long holiday weekend as a chance to take off work and enjoy time with friends and family. We associate these holidays with warm feelings of tradition – from summertime cookouts to reconnecting with loved ones we don’t see often enough,” the NSC says in its analysis.
“Unfortunately, these holiday periods are also associated with an uptick in car crashes resulting in serious injury and death.”
Traffic on the I-5 Freeway through Santa Clarita on Thanksgiving weekend, 2017. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Ditto for gunplay. The three weeks with the most unintentional shootings overlapped with weeks of three major holidays: Independence Day, New Year’s Day and Thanksgiving, the Brady project says in its data analysis. Christmas and other winter holidays marked a significant rise in incidents as well.
We’re officially approaching the second-deadliest of America’s six big holidays for road accidents. Buckle up.
Thanksgiving
The National Safety Council estimates that 507 people will die on American roads over the turkey day celebration this year.
Many folks travel by car, which has the highest fatality rate of any major form of motorized transportation (based on fatalities per passenger mile), and celebrations often feature strong drink, a major contributing factor to car crashes.
Thousands more will be injured between mid-November and early December, according to data from the Transportation Injury Mapping System at UC Berkeley crunched by one law firm. In California, this has included more than 1,800 people in Los Angeles County, nearly 500 in Orange County, 465 in Riverside County and nearly 400 in San Bernardino County.
Then there’s guns. Holidays and firearms often don’t mix well. The Brady gun violence project crunched four years of data from the Gun Violence Archive and found that the period around Thanksgiving averaged 47 unintentional shootings.
“Around major holidays, people are more likely to be in or around the home,” the group explains. “That, combined with easy access to firearms that are stored unlocked and loaded, proves to be a dangerous combination for unintentional shootings. To prevent unintentional firearm injury around the holidays, firearms must be stored securely: unloaded, locked, and separated from ammunition.”
Christmas
There’s a bit less carnage at Christmas, the sixth-deadliest holiday on the roads. The NSC estimates that 345 people meet their ends in car crashes during this period.
It’s the fourth-most-dangerous holiday period for shootings, Brady found, averaging 42 unintentional shootings between Dec. 24 and 31.
New Year’s
Union Station Homeless Services float “Bee the Solution” during the 135th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Jan. 1. (Photo by Libby Cline-Birmingham, Contributing Photographer)
Accidents pick up with the auld lang syne celebrations. It’s the fifth-deadliest road holiday, with 375 deaths expected around New Year’s Day, according to the NSC.
The fresh start is the second-scariest holiday time for guns, though, with an average 50 unintentional shootings between Jan. 1 and 7, Brady found.
Memorial Day
Celebrations honoring the men and women who died in the U.S. military coincide with the fourth-deadliest road holiday, with 418 deaths anticipated.
It’s the sixth-most-dangerous holiday for unintentional shootings, with an average of 42 in late May period when the holiday falls, Brady found.
Independence Day
Uncle Sam greets a young visitor to the Fourth of July celebration aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
The most dangerous holiday of all is the one where folks wave flags, set off fireworks and shoot guns in the air to celebrate America’s birthday.
On the roads, the NSC said 599 people were expected to perish.
It’s also first for unintentional shootings, Brady found, with an average of 57 between July 2 and 8.
Labor Day
The unofficial end of summer is the third most deadly holiday on the roads, with 457 expected, the NSC said.
It’s the fifth highest for unintentional shootings, with 42 between Aug. 27 and Sept. 2, Brady found.
Big picture
“These estimates represent deaths and injuries that don’t have to occur,” the NSC said.
“Each one is preventable. All drivers can help make our roads safer, especially during the holidays, by practicing defensive driving, buckling up and designating a sober driver or arranging for alternate transportation. Drivers also should get plenty of sleep to avoid fatigue, drive attentively and avoid distractions.”
Statewide, an average 4,187 Californians have perished on the roads each year for the past three years, according to Berkeley’s TIMS, with a total of 21,676 killed or injured.
• In Orange County between January 2023 and the end of January 2024, there were 13,550 crashes, killing 178 people and injuring 18,875.
• In Los Angeles County, there were 43,177 crashes, killing 717 and injuring 61,080.
• In Riverside County, there were 11,282 crashes, killing 294 and injuring 16,000.
• In San Bernardino County, there were 11,068 crashes, killing 340 and injuring 15,748.
This whole creepy line of inquiry was inspired by the “Normalized Bloody Scores” compiled by accident and injury firm Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys. Folks there analyzed 21 national holidays using some different sources, and found that Armed Forces Day, Cinco de Mayo, Easter Sunday and St. Patrick’s Day ranked high on the danger scale as well.
Halloween didn’t make the Top 10 — but with all those little ghouls and goblins running around, please do take care.
Oh, and happy holidays.
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