This year is the first time in four years the National Safety Council (NSC) estimates fewer than 400 people will perish in motor vehicle accidents over the three-day Memorial Day weekend.
The NSC projects 380 fatalities during the 2019 holiday period, which is a "nod" to an overall leveling off of roadway deaths after the deadliest three-year period in a half a century.
“Although we are experiencing a plateau in fatality trends, we are still losing an unacceptable number of people on our roadways, and this holiday may be no different,” said Ken Kolosh, manager of statistics at NSC. “If we pay attention, slow down and be courteous, we can increase our chances of making it to picnics, beaches and barbecues rather than emergency rooms.”
An additional 43,300 people may be seriously injured on the roads over the long weekend, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday, May 24, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 27.
When compared to Thanksgiving, Christmas ad New Year’s Day, the three summertime holidays – Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day – typically claim more than 110 lives each day, the highest average per-day fatality rates, the organization says.
View the slideshow to see what seven tips the NSC states could reduce the number of fatalities over Memorial Day weekend.
