Thanksgiving is one of the most traveled holiday weekends in the U.S.  In addition, AAA says that driving is the most used mode of transportation.  Because of this, there are also more car accidents over Thanksgiving across the country, including Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs.  In fact, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDot), Thanksgiving weekend has more crashes and fatalities compared to other holidays, such as Memorial Day, New Years and Christmas.

In 2015, there were 1428 crashes and 21 deaths on Thanksgiving Day, compared to 923 crashes and 24 fatalities on Memorial Day, the second holiday with the highest number of crashes.  In 2016, there were 1248 crashes and 17 fatalities on Thanksgiving Day compared to 988 crashes and 11 fatalities on Memorial Day.

Interestingly, the PennDot car crash data reveals that accidents tend to occur or cluster around each holiday. In fact, this is a trend for many holidays, as seen in the charts above. For some holidays, like Thanksgiving, car accidents peak in the days before the actual holiday.  In 2015, the weekend before Thanksgiving had 1719 crashes as opposed to 1428 crashes on Thanksgiving weekend.  In 2016, there were 1854 crashes the weekend before Thanksgiving compared to 1248 crashes on Thanksgiving weekend.

The data from 2015 and 2016 clearly show that out of all major holidays, car accidents occur most frequently during the Thanksgiving holiday. 2017 is not likely to be an exception.

Car Crash in Philadelphia Over Thanksgiving Weekend

On Saturday, November 25, 2017, just after 2 a.m., a crash killed a woman on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia’s Frankford section.  The driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree.  The passenger, a 22 year old woman, was ejected from the car and died at the scene.  The driver, who is also 22 years old, suffered a leg injury and was sent to a nearby hospital.  Source: www.6abc.com [Woman killed, driver injured in Frankford car accident]