It will come as a surprise to no one that the roads are more dangerous during the holidays. Anxious drivers hustle to join festivities with family and friends. Young people face tough choices about handing the keys to a designated driver, perhaps for the first time. Even if you follow the rules of the road—wear a seatbelt, stay sober, no speeding, hands off your phone—the chances of getting rear-ended, sideswiped, or otherwise involved in a collision are higher over the holidays.

Whether driving or riding in a passenger seat, there’s no way to guarantee your safety in a car, on any day of the year. But you can educate yourself about local traffic safety risks. If everybody knew when and where collisions occur, we would all have a better chance to stay out of harm’s way.

This post, the second in our San Jose by the Numbers series looking at recent traffic safety records for communities surrounding GJEL’s San Jose, Calif. office, identifies the most dangerous intersections and the times of day when most collisions occurred last year on St. Patrick’s Day. We looked at collisions on Thursday, March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, and Friday, March 18. The day after St. Patrick’s Day is important because some parties end after midnight and some don’t truly get underway until after work on Friday.

From California Highway Patrol records of all collisions that occurred in Santa Clara County during the first half of 2016, we learned about 51 collisions on St. Patrick’s Day and 57 collisions the following day. Here’s what you ought to know.

Almost half of St. Patrick’s Day 2016 collisions in Santa Clara County occurred in San Jose

City Number of Collisions San Jose 52 Mountain View 8 Unincorporated Santa Clara County 8 Milpitas 7 Sunnyvale 7 Palo Alto 6 Santa Clara 6 Total 108

Cupertino and Gilroy: 3 collisions each. Campbell, Morgan Hill, and Saratoga: 2 collisions. Los Altos and Los Gatos: 1 collision.

San Jose’s three most dangerous roads on St. Patrick’s Day were interstate highways

Road Number of Collisions US-101 14 I-280 9 I-880 6

State Road 85: 4 collisions. State Road 237: 3 collisions.

One-third of St. Patrick’s Day collisions in San Jose happened near these intersections

Intersection Number of Collisions I-880 & Bascom Rd 4 US-101 & Brokaw Rd 2 US-101 & Capitol Expressway 2 I-280 & Lawrence Expressway 2 I-280 & McLaughlin Expressway 2 US-101 & Tully Rd 2 US-101 & State Road 87 2 State Road 237 & Zanker Rd 2

No other intersection in San Jose had multiple collisions.

The most dangerous travel times in San Jose were 3 pm to 6 pm on St. Patrick’s Day

3/17/2016 12-3 AM 3-6 AM 6-9 AM 9 AM-12 PM 12-3 PM 3-6 PM 6-9 PM 9-12 PM Collisions 2 – 13 6 5 14 3 7 Injuries 2 – 10 5 3 5 3 1 Involving alcohol or drugs 1 – – – – – – 2 3/18/2016 12-3 AM 3-6 AM 6-9 AM 9 AM-12 PM 12-3 PM 3-6 PM 6-9 PM 9-12 PM Collisions 5 4 6 10 4 16 8 4 Injuries 3 2 2 6 – 10 6 2 Involving alcohol or drugs 1 2 – – 1 1 3 1

Overall, during the two-day period beginning on St. Patrick’s Day, San Jose experienced 108 collisions, 60 injuries, and 12 collisions involving alcohol or drugs.

If you will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in the San Jose metro area or the Tri-Valley area this week, be sure to participate in GJEL’s Drink and Alive Free Cab Ride Program. Rides starting on Friday, March 17, at 5 p.m. and ending Saturday, March 18, before 10 a.m. are eligible for reimbursement up to $30. Visit the Drink and Alive program page for more details. This program is sponsored by the GJEL Car Accident Attorneys in San Jose.

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