Bakersfield is the home to unsafe driving. Now that the holiday season is around the corner, traffic is going to rise in the flash. In Kern County alone, drivers tend to not follow basic traffic rules or tend to forget the basics of driving.
Many areas throughout Kern County have unsafe driving conditions. With weather conditions, steep hills, cracked roads, and fast drivers, the streets of Bakersfield are going to be filled with repeated caution signs if people do not drive safe.
According to Public Information Officer of the Bakersfield Highway Patrol (BHP), Jorge Toro explains how here in Bakersfield many car crashes are cause by misuse of seatbelts. “About 50% of car accidents here in the area are unfortunately fatal due to people not wearing seatbelts.”
“The study found per 100,000 Bakersfield residents, there were 10.96 people killed in crashes. There were 10.42 total crashes per 100,000 residents, and there were 2.14 crashes involving drunk drivers per 100,000 residents,” according to KGET story that ran in February this year.
With the holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas nearby, drivers need to be extra conscious with their driving decisions and not act defensively with other drivers. So be wise and drive with caution. Everyone on the highway all have a destination to go to and no family wants to receive a call about their loved one is not coming for the holidays.
“With the holidays coming closer, the BPD are issuing are maximum impulse period where officers are deployed mainly in high traffic areas to be on extra lookout for drivers who are driving under the influence and or those who are driving unsafely.” said Officer Toro. Toro also explain how Bakersfield is in the top 5 of DUI’s and roughly 12,000 individuals are pulled over for DUI’s and has given that just 800 people might be pulled over during the holiday season.
Some tips to remember when driving during the holiday season 1. Don’t drive while distracted. Distracted driving is not driving. 2. Plan who is going to drive if you’re planning to drink. Driving while sober is not only a safety measure but no one should ever be put on risk just because someone wanted to have a few drinks.