Health and

Holiday Road Safety: Stay Safe This Holiday Season

During the upcoming holiday season, and all year, keep safety in mind whenever you're on the road. Tips from CDC's Injury Center on motor vehicle safety can help you protect yourself, your passengers, and your family and friends.

Tips from CDC's Injury Center on motor vehicle safety can help you protect yourself, your passengers, and your family and friends. Whether you're headed around town, out of town, or out to celebrate, we wish you a safe holiday season.

Protect Your Passengers

Whenever you're on the road this holiday season, remember to always buckle up. Wearing your seat belt can reduce your risk of dying in a crash by about half. Also, make sure your young passengers are buckled into appropriate safety seats. The safest place for children of any age to ride is properly restrained in the back seat. Data show that child safety seats reduce the risk of death in car crashes by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers ages one to four.

Celebrate Safely

During the holiday season, and year-round, take steps to make sure that you and everyone you celebrate with avoids driving under the influence of alcohol. Following these tips can help you stay safe:

• Plan ahead.
  Always designate a non-drinking driver before any holiday party or celebration begins.
• Take the keys.
  Don't let friends drive if they are impaired.
• Be a helpful host.
  If you're hosting a party this holiday season, remind your guests to plan ahead and designate their sober driver; offer alcohol-free beverages; and make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver.

Spread the word among your friends and family about tips to keep kids safe on the road. Send a health e-card to help them protect the ones they love.

Know How Much Parents Matter

This holiday season, and throughout the year, talk with your teen about the dangers of driving—and keep the conversation going. CDC also encourages you to take these steps, which have been proven to reduce serious injury and death:

• Extend your teen's supervised driving period. Help your teen develop the skills he or she needs by providing as many supervised practice driving hours as possible. Include at least 30 to 50 hours of practice over at least six months. Make sure to practice on a variety of road conditions and at different times of day.

• Set the rules of the road. Practice driving will empower your teen. But your rules will provide much needed limits to keep him or her safe.
  

  Support the rules that most states have for new teen drivers by including the following:

  • Make sure your teen always wears a seat belt.
  • Limit your teen's nighttime driving.
  • Restrict the number of teen passengers allowed in the car.

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