Believe it or not, the deadliest day of the year for car accidents isn’t during the cold months. The warm and sunny skies of the summertime seem to encourage people to drive faster — and more recklessly. Whereas in the winter, drivers overall tend to operate with more caution.

August 2nd is typically the day when most car crashes occur in the United States. According to data we’ve assembled from a variety of sources, August 2nd is the deadliest day to drive. More than 500 fatalities have happened on this day for drivers on U. S. roads. The entire month of August typically has the most fatal car crashes each year, with almost 16,000 people losing their lives on the road.

The sunnier weather may make drivers on the road feel more daring, but there are three significant contributing factors for so many car accidents in August. Those include factors such as:

• Speeding up abruptly
• Hard braking or brake-checking
• Spending prolonged time in congested traffic – also known as idling

The break-down of these driving habits by the state show that:

• New York and Illinois drivers are most likely to accelerate their speed suddenly;
• Arizona, Georgia, and New York drivers are most likely to brake-check; and
• Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and New York drivers are most likely to be stuck in congested traffic (idling) that leads frustrated drivers to make hasty decisions.

Additionally, with the summer months come summer vacations. People are spending prolonged time in their vehicles driving to their summer getaways. Drivers become fatigued behind the wheel, which can cause delayed reactions and aggressive habits as they try to reach their destination faster. People also are more likely to stay out later at the bars with the extended daylight hours in August, leading to more drinks and poor decision-making.

Everyone knows that rush hour traffic is the worst, no matter what state you live in. But according to our data, Fridays are the worst day of the week from 9:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon when it comes to aggressive driving. Aggressive driving habits, like hard braking and speeding up quickly, can lead to accidents from both road rage or simply not paying attention.

California drivers experience congested traffic and aggressive attitudes on the road no matter what month of the year it is. Especially during the holidays, our roads are flooded with locals and tourists alike in a hurry to get where they need to be.

The experienced San Jose car accident attorneys at The Barnes Firm can help if you’ve been injured while driving. We’ve helped thousands of car accident victims with their personal injury claims throughout the state of California – including San Jose, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, and Mountainview, CA.

Our No Fee Promise guarantees that you won’t pay a dollar unless we recover compensation that’s entitled to you. Speak with our best car accident lawyer in San Diego for free by calling us today.