Labor Day Travel, Traffic Deaths Projected to Spike

An improved economy means Americans have more money to spend this Labor Day, which also means more holiday travel and more cars on the road. And when there are more cars on the road, unfortunately, that also means more accidents.

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Travel-services provider AAA projects that nearly 36 million people will trek more than 50 miles from home during the Labor Day travel period that starts today and runs through Monday — the most since 2008 and a 1 percent increase over the previous year. More than 30 million, or about 86 percent, of those people will travel by car. Fueling the end-of-summer road-trip surge is cheap gas. At $2.57 a gallon, the average price of gas is 86 cents less than a year ago, the lowest it's been in six years.

"A strong labor market coupled with greater job security and rising home prices have all helped to increase disposable income," said AAA spokeswoman Beth Mosher, in a statement. "Though some consumers remain cautious, these positive indicators are driving a slight increase and allowing millions of Americans to travel on one last summer getaway."

The National Safety Council, which counts the Labor Day travel period from Friday evening through Monday, announced a grim forecast that nearly 400 people will die and nearly 48,000 more will be seriously injured over the holiday weekend.

"The three-day period falls in the midst of what could be the most deadly year on our roads since 2007," the nonprofit safety-advocacy organization stated. The agency estimates that overall traffic deaths are up 14 percent so far this year compared with the same period in 2014; serious injuries have increased 30 percent.

Underscoring the increased danger of more vehicles on the nation's highways, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week reported estimates that traffic deaths had spiked nearly 10 percent in the first three months of 2015 to about 7,500. That's despite travel for the same period increasing by less than 4 percent. Moreover, NHTSA calculated that the nearly 19,000 traffic deaths from January to June of this year puts the U.S. on track for 40,000 deaths by year's end, the most in eight years, the Detroit News reported.

NSC stressed the importance of wearing a seat belt, citing NHTSA figures that the 13 percent of motorists who do not wear their seat belts account for nearly half of fatalities. Other measures the council recommends include:

• Designating a sober driver or arranging for alternate transportation.
• Getting plenty of sleep and taking regular breaks to avoid fatigue.
• Never using a cellphone while behind the wheel.
• Prohibiting teens from driving with friends, as just one other passenger increases the risk of a fatal crash by 44 percent.

While traffic deaths in general have been on the rise, NHTSA reports that drunken driving deaths have declined by nearly a quarter during the past decade. But that doesn't mean public-safety officials will spend the Labor Day holiday resting on their laurels — quite the opposite in fact. Already in progress since Aug. 21, NHTSA's "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign will run through Monday, as personnel from more than 10,000 law-enforcement agencies across the nation hit the roads to identify and arrest drivers with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or higher.

"In this day and age, there is no excuse for drinking and driving. Not when smartphones can put a sober ride at your fingertips," NHTSA stated, noting that more than 10,000 people died in drunken driving incidents in 2013 alone. "With a ride sharing app or a quick call for a taxi or to a local sober ride program, you can stay safe, protect others and avoid arrest."