Gridlock Guy: Too much ‘holiday cheer’ can shatter silent night on the road

In an ideal world, the holidays are about peace, joy and goodwill. But we know from experience that it’s also a time when waistlines expand, bank accounts recede and people drive impaired or distracted.

There’s also more of us on the roads this time of year.

AAA reports about 82 million Americans are traveling this Thanksgiving. Federal data shows that fourth-quarter traffic volume in Atlanta is up 18% over the previous three months.

But the real concern sits in how people drive.

Parties get boozier and more plentiful in December. People pack their agendas and zoom from place to place with less patience and more angst. The temptation to drive distracted comes with the territory. And, for some reason, people still insist on not wearing seat belts.

These errors in judgment are what Allen Poole, executive director of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, warns against year-round and especially during the busy holiday travel period.

“The highways are just full of people and so you’ve got to be extra careful, because things could happen in a blink of an eye,” Poole told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 11Alive.

Traffic congestion is a big part of the equation that Consumer Affairs used to rank Atlanta as the seventh-worst traffic in the U.S. for this time of year. Metro Atlantans also log 29 miles per day, on average, in this period, the second-highest rate in America.

“When you’re out there on the road, you’ve not only got to drive for yourself, but you’ve got to look out for the other driver because — there again — (there’s) not only impaired driving, but distracted driving.”

If surrounding drivers are distracted, they are slower to react to the mistakes of others. The driving environment is better for everyone when all involved make even small changes to drive more conscientiously.

As for inebriation — just don’t do it. Federal stats show that 30% of all crashes involve alcohol.

But booze is not the only toxin for which authorities will be detecting, said Poole, who is a former state trooper. “We’ve got officers, (and) they are drug expert recognition guys.” And “you may stop somebody that appears to be all over the road and may not have alcohol about their breath or person, but you know there are some other things going on.”

For instance, who’s with me and smelled “the herb” out in traffic? And field sobriety tests can still account for impairment, even if drivers do not reek of booze or marijuana.

For drivers hoping to skirt the fuzz on smaller roads, Poole said the state has accounted for that. ”(We) have a lot of enforcement that is going on what I call the secondary roads.”

There will be, of course, a heightened police presence statewide during this time. Poole said that many officers “take vacation time prior to this time of the year. You’ll see more law enforcement officers on the road.”

Studies often show that secondary or arterial roads are actually more dangerous than either freeways or neighboring streets. The speeds are high enough and the obstacles are plenty. People should not let their guard down in any scenario, nor should they skimp on their protection.

A shockingly high number of drivers and passengers still do not wear seat belts. Staying unbuckled is not worth whatever small gains in comfort that brings.

“If you’re buckled up, your chances go up exponentially by wearing that seat belt,” Poole said. “If you stay inside that square, which is the automobile, your chances of surviving a crash just go up, you know, threefold.”

Staying in the vehicle is also a tactic any stranded motorist should practice, whether they are stuck in travel lanes or on the shoulder of the road.

Poole said that the talk of increased law enforcement and stern warnings about driving behavior are not supposed to dampen the warm and joyous season. They are meant to keep people on the straight and narrow, so they can properly celebrate. He wants people to arrive alive to their family and friends.

So, Poole echoes the sentiments of other safety advocates: “Buckle your seat belt, observe the speed limit and never, never drive impaired, whether it’s drugs or alcohol.”

To zoom out just a bit more, Poole’s simple advice truly echoes the spirit of this season. “We ask people to pack their patience and have respect.”