Maridady Blog

OPINION- THE WORST TIME TO DRIVE THIS CHRISTMAS

It may be the “most wonderful time of the year,” but that’s hardly true for drivers. Traffic, accidents, and poor driving conditions await those hapless highway-drivers among us this week. Fortunately, the Information Age is bearing better tidings every year. This holiday season, it’s coming in the form of more accurate traffic reports. More kenyans will travel between December 23 and January 3. More than 90% of those revelers will be behind the wheel, up 1.4% over last year. Then factor in rain forecasted across various parts of the country followed by a Saturday Christmas, and all bets are off in terms of estimating accurate travel times. From insights drawn from road congestion reports, the best time to travel during the holidays is on Christmas Day itself, Dec. 25. Surprisingly, last year the roads had below average-traffic on Christmas, though last-minute travelers likely had higher levels of anxiety wondering if Santa knew where they’d be on the big day. And being early doesn’t help much. This year, the worst day to travel will be Thursday, Dec. 23. So if you were thinking of cutting out of work early, reconsider. Between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., you’re not going to make much of any progress, so just work late that night and get on the office ‘nice’ list (or work from home). And you can’t even beat the rush: Cars start crawling along the highway as early as 11 a.m. that morning. Waiting a day won’t help either. Christmas Eve will be a dreadful time to be in your one-horse open sleigh, starting at noon and extending all the way through evening. The return trip also offers surprises, none of which are particularly delightful. Monday, Dec. 27 is cited as the worst day to escape the family. On that day, there are estimates that you will receive 87% more traffic jam alerts, come across 14% more accidents, identify 23% more road hazards, and 33% more displayed police notifications. Instead, Tuesday before noontime is the best time to head back. That means if you’re working that day, shower up, get dressed, and aim to get to the office on time. Not only will you beat the crowd, but you’ll be at the workshop ready to make next year’s toys for all the little boys and girls. Road carnage is likely to be on the rise this festive especially with rains here with us. Since January 2021, 4347 fatalities have been recorded as compared to 3707 last year. This poses high risk factors like; excessive speed, late night travel, lane indiscipline, fatigued driving, drunk driving, distracted driving etc. All these are preventable human errors and road users are expected to be more vigilant on the road. Drive with reason this christmas season and remember christmas is to be celebrated at home not in hospital. This info has been brought to you by Maridady Auto Academy. Merry Christmas.