Many Memorial Day weekend crashes happen in rural areas

FARGO — Lots of people will be traveling this Memorial Day weekend, espcially on rural roadways.

Elin Nozewski with Jerry Car Insurance says rural areas typically have less street lights and longer roads. As people are celebrating Memorial Day weekend, she says fatal crashes become a little more common.

“About a third of those accidents are caused by people who are driving over the posted speed limit. And the second-highest risk factor is inebriated driving,” said Nozewski.

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, for every 100,000 vehicles, 1.7 fatal crashes occur over memorial weekend.

“It’s a very busy travel weekend. There’s a lot of people in a hurry to get where they want to go. Biggest thing is just to make sure that we plan for that travel and we get there safely,” said Sergeant Adam Malafa with the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

His best tip is to keep distractions to a minimum.

“If you’re the driver, your job is to drive. Not to be, you know, engaged in, you know, whether it’s other conversations or whatever else might be going on in that vehicle,” Malafa said.

When you’re sharing the roads, Malafa says to be mindful of others that aren’t used to the area.

“If they make a lane change that you didn’t expect them to, it’s probably not because they’re trying to be mean it’s probably just because they might not know the road,” Malafa said.

With the updated “Move Over” law, he says to remember all cars must move into the next lane or slow down, if they see a car on the shoulder with hazard lights on.

“Especially with the construction, we’ve got going on just be patient,” Malafa said.

In North Dakota, if you violate the “move over” law, its a $20 fine.

If you commit a traffic violation when distracted while driving, its a $100 fine.

If you violate the seatbelt law, its a $25 fine with 1 point against your license.

According to Jerry Car Insurance, the most dangerous times to drive nationwide during the Memorial Day weekend are 11 p.m. on Saturday to 1 a.m. on Sunday. The risk rises again later on Sunday night from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.

My name is Anne Sara, better known as Sara.
I was born an only child in Port-au-prince, Haiti and moved to the U.S at the age of 2.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is where I was raised.
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