If you live in California, you might want to keep your car in the garage on a certain day in December. There is one particular day has been identified by the Allstate insurance company as the day when the most car insurance claims are reported by it’s customers. It is the day when the most car accidents happen in California. What day is it? Well, it’s not December 25, or December 31.
Allstate reviewed the car insurance claims that were reported by it’s California drivers in the past four years. They found that the number of claims that are filed due to car accidents jumped up by 23% on December 15, when compared to the average number of car insurance claims on each of the other days of the year. The overall average number of car accidents per day was 435. For whatever reason, the average number of car accidents that happen on December 15 jumps up to 539.
I suppose that if you happen to live in California, you might want to stay home on December 15, or perhaps consider using public transportation instead of driving your vehicle to wherever you were planning on going. If you are going to drive that day, make sure you are paying very close attention to the road, as well as to the other driver’s around you. While it is never a good idea to engage in behaviors that make driving more risky, (like texting, talking on a cell phone while driving, or driving after having one too many drinks), it seems to be especially important that you avoid those behaviors on the most dangerous driving day in California, December 15.
Unfortunately, the data doesn’t reveal the exact reasons why December 15 is the day that the most car accidents happen in California. Very few parts of California are able to get what most people think of as “winter weather“, so the accidents are not due to vehicles sliding across ice on the road.
The other options that Allstate thought could be contributing to the high rate of accidents on December 15 include: holiday shopping, travel, and other distractions. Considering that December 15 is ten days before Christmas, it makes sense that there would be a lot of distracted drivers, frantically trying to finish their Christmas shopping that day. It also makes sense that car accidents can occur from people who are visiting relatives, and unfamiliar with the roads. A lot of people visit family right around Christmas time. Whatever the real reason turns out to be, it’s a good idea for California drivers to pay extra close attention to the road when driving on December 15.
Image by cygnus921 on Flickr