More families travel further on Thanksgiving than any holiday of the year, which leads paramedics with American Medical Response ambulance service to urge travel safety. AMR’s medics urge drivers to:
Be sure the vehicle and driver are both in good condition:
Have the vehicle serviced before the trip. Especially check the tires, brakes, windshield wipers, headlights, tail-lights and hoses.
Be sure the driver is alert at all times. Drivers should get a good night’s sleep before departing.
Take frequent breaks and switch drivers every couple of hours.
Leave early enough that you don’t have to drive when tired and sleepy. If fatigue sets in, go to a rest area or motel and sleep. When you’ve reached the limit of your endurance, do not press your luck by getting right back on the road after only a few moments’ rest. Tired and sleepy drivers are far more likely to have a crash.
Plan the driving for daylight hours. More fatal crashes happen at night.
Stay on major highways wherever you can. Two-lane roads are the deadliest, and interstate highways are safest.
Avoid distractions behind the wheel. Not paying attention to the road is one of the leading causes of motor-vehicle crashes.
To make your vehicle more visible, drive with headlights on, both day and night. Research shows that daytime headlight use decreases crashes.
Vacation traffic includes more big, slow recreational vehicles. Be on the lookout for them, especially on hills and curves.
Impatience can kill. Observe the speed limit. Don’t pass in no-pass zones. Don’t rush through yellow lights to beat the red light.
Designated drivers save lives. Forbid anyone from driving who has consumed even just one beer.
Insist that everyone in the vehicle wear safety belts or use a child safety seat anytime the vehicle is moving, no matter how short the trip.
Devin Miracco, AMR’s clinical education specialist in Doņa Ana County, urges drivers to take holiday travel hazards seriously.
“Any crash that’s prevented saves you from enduring years of grief, physical suffering, disability, medical bills, lost income and lawsuits,” he said.
Doņa Ana County contracts with American Medical Response Inc. for ambulance service across the county. AMR is America’s leading provider of medical transportation. In addition to Doņa Ana County, AMR operates in 40 states and the District of Columbia. AMR’s 18,500 paramedics, EMTs and other professionals transport more than four million patients nationwide each year in critical, emergency and non-emergency situations. Operating a fleet of approximately 4,500 vehicles, AMR, a subsidiary of Emergency Medical Services Corporation, is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.
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