VITAL TIPS FOR SUMMER ROAD TRAVEL
By Ronald A. Karp, founding partner

What safety experts refer to as the 100 deadliest days on the road are here. If you’re like me, you’ll be spending time on the road over the next couple of months headed to a vacation destination. In my 50 years practicing law, I’ve seen too many tragic circumstances in which lives were irreversibly altered or lost as a result of car accidents. There are key steps you can take to be as safe as possible on the roads this summer. This isn’t legal advice, but I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned over the years studying road safety.

It’s important to plan your drive to avoid the most dangerous hours; be especially careful around large trucks; use the proper braking method in an emergency situation; and be fully cognizant of your fatigue levels. More details on this below.

Every 18 months, the loss of life on American highways quietly matches the entire U.S. military casualty count of the Vietnam War. We view highway travel as a routine, everyday task, but the statistical reality is that our roads represent one of the most consistent hazards to American life. 58,220 soldiers died in the entirety of the Vietnam War, but more people than that die every 18 months on American roads and highways.

Summer historically sees a spike in traffic fatalities due to a perfect storm of congestion, construction, and teen drivers out of school. I urge you to stay vigilant. All roads can be dangerous. More than half of all fatal large-truck crashes occur on rural roads, while approximately one-quarter take place on major interstates.

Why is summer travel so dangerous?

The Surge of Distracted Driving: Texting, adjusting navigation mid-trip, or dealing with restless passengers.

Driver’s fatigue: If you are tired and start experiencing micro-naps where you start to nod off and catch yourself, GET OFF THE ROAD. At highway speeds, taking your eyes off the road for just five seconds is equivalent to driving the length of a football field blindfolded.

Highways are filled with the Inexperienced & the Exhausted: Summer roads are packed with teenagers on vacation and overtired drivers pushing through long-distance road trips. There is a reason teenage drivers pay higher insurance rates: they get into more accidents and insurance carriers have the statistics.

Aggressive Driving and Congestion: Heavy traffic in construction zones or near vacation bottlenecks frequently leads to tailgating, improper lane changes, and road rage.

Sudden afternoon downpours, common during the summer, can cause immediate hydroplaning after weeks of dry weather have left oil residue on the asphalt.

Truck accidents. Trucks are all over the roads and the summer months are no different. At 65 mph, a commercial truck travels nearly 100 feet per second. If a truck driver nods off for just three seconds, that truck covers a full 300-foot football field blindly. Furthermore, a fully loaded tractor-trailer weighs about 80,000 lbs. and takes 20% to 40% longer to stop than a standard car under ideal conditions—a gap that widens drastically on wet summer asphalt. Here is a jaw-dropping fact: 70% to 72% of the fatalities are occupants of the passenger vehicles, not the truck drivers.

The sad fact is that when a truck has an accident with a car, the results are usually catastrophic for the car occupants. And independent truck drivers are often paid by miles, not hours, meaning they are financially incentivized to stay on the road as long as possible going as fast as possible.

Federal trucking regulations are shockingly inadequate from a safety perspective, allowing truck drivers to drive long hours—up to 11 hours in a single day. Most people would be zombies after driving this much in a day! For more details on these rules and the dangers trucks pose, see below after my tips. But first I want to share with you the key steps you can take to stay safe on the roads this summer.

Here is my advice to stay safe. Again, this is not legal advice, but safety advice based on a half century of studying road safety. If you or a loved one has been hurt in a trucking accident, our team is available to help—contact us.

When is the safest time to drive?

I recommend planning long summer travel legs during early morning daylight hours when traffic volume is lower, visibility is high and driver alertness is at its peak. Here’s why:

Crash Rates: Day vs. Night

• Overall Total Crashes (Volume): The highest sheer number of total car crashes (both fatal and nonfatal combined) occurs during the daytime, specifically during the afternoon and evening commute hours (roughly 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM). This is primarily driven by high traffic density and rush-hour congestion.
• Fatal Crash Rate (Severity): While total crashes peak in late afternoon, the fatal crash rate per mile driven is significantly higher at night. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, about half of all traffic fatalities occur after dark—even though only about 25% of total driving takes place at night. The deadliest single window on the road as a proportion of drivers is late night to early morning, between 12:00 AM and 4:00 AM (especially on weekend nights).

Peak Fatigue Hours on the Highway

Driver fatigue follows natural circadian rhythms and body temperature dips, leading to two distinct peak periods for sleepiness behind the wheel:

1. Primary Peak (Late Night / Early Morning): 12:00 AM to 6:00 AM
   • This is the body’s natural period for deep sleep. Drowsy driving crashes are statistically most frequent and severe during these hours, as reaction times plummet and micro-sleeps are most likely.
2. Secondary Peak (Mid-Afternoon Dip): 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
   • Known as the “post-lunch dip” or afternoon circadian slump, alertness naturally drops during this window, making long, monotonous highway drives especially prone to driver fatigue.

Now that you know the peak periods for sleepiness behind the wheel, avoid them if you can. And regardless of when you are driving, here is what you should know to keep safe.

Manage the “Space Cushion” Around Trucks

Trucks often weigh 80,000 lbs. and can travel the equivalent of a football field if the driver experiences a 3 second micro-nap or just loses focus for 3 seconds. Because a fully loaded commercial truck requires massive braking distances and has significant blind spots, your safety depends on the space you maintain around them:

• The 4-Second Rule: Increase your normal following distance behind large trucks. If you are too close, the truck driver cannot see you in their side mirrors, and you have zero visibility of sudden traffic stops ahead.
• Avoid the “No-Zones”: Commercial trucks have vast blind spots directly behind them, along both sides (especially the right side), and directly in front of the cab. A good rule of thumb: If you cannot see the truck driver’s face in their side mirror, they cannot see your car.
• Never Cut In Front: When passing a truck, do not pull back into their lane until you can see the truck’s entire cab and headlights clearly in your rearview mirror. Cutting off a truck drastically reduces its available braking runway.

Implement the “Stomp, Stay, and Steer” Brake Strategy

• Trust the ABS: Modern Anti-lock Braking Systems require continuous, heavy pressure to function properly.
• The Action: In an emergency stop, stomp down hard on the brake pedal, stay heavy on the pedal even if it vibrates or makes a grinding noise, and steer the vehicle around the hazard. However, absent an accident situation, people who do a lot of highway travel tell me that when they see a truck following them as they approach a stoplight or toll booth, they lightly tap the brakes a few times to let the driver behind them know they are stopping.

Establish a Buffer Zone at Dead Stops

As established by crash statistics, rear-end collisions are incredibly common when highway traffic abruptly bottlenecks.

• Leave an Escape Route: When slowed or stopped in highway traffic, always leave enough space ahead of you to see the rear tires of the vehicle in front touching the asphalt.
• Why It Matters: This cushion gives you room to pull to the shoulder if you glance in your rearview mirror and see an oncoming vehicle or semi-truck failing to slow down behind you, preventing you from being crushed between two vehicles.

Eliminate In-Transit Distractions

Taking your eyes off the road for mere milliseconds at highway speeds can be fatal.

• The Designated Navigator: Assign all navigation adjustments, music selection, and text messaging to a front-seat passenger.
• Do Not Rely on Hands-Free: Even hands-free phone conversations cause cognitive distraction, slowing a driver’s braking reaction times.

Listen to the modern tips in your car’s computer

Some vehicles have “Take a Break” notices that pop up on the screens in the car. Don’t ignore them. The computer in the car knows how long you have been driving or has sensed that you are having difficulty in staying in your lane. Take the very next opportunity to STOP, rest and perhaps get some coffee. You ignore these danger signs at your peril.

If you are taking a long trip, carry a map with you.

Sometimes the navigation system in a car fails or runs into issues. You can pull over at the next rest stop, take out your map and make sure you are on the right route. If you try to drive and deal with your nav system that is having problems, it will distract you and you must keep your focus on the road.

Do not talk on your phone on the road and if you have to deal with an emergency phone call, make it brief.

Neuroscientists tell us that no matter how much we try to do two things at once, we really can’t. Try having an intelligent conversation with someone reading their phone will prove this point. When they start reading the phone you can see they’ve stopped listening. When you are engaged in a telephone call, your reaction time changes in an emergency situation on the highway. I can’t tell you how many times I have represented someone who was seriously injured by a driver who was on the phone.

Use your seat belt.

It sounds elementary, but some people still avoid it and if you are in a crash and can’t get off the road, keep your seatbelt on until help arrives. Disabled vehicles are often hit by cars and having a seatbelt on during the second collision will help reduce injuries.

If your car is disabled or you are in an accident, what should you do?

I have represented lots of folks who either exited their car and were injured by passing cars, or who stayed in their stopped vehicle and were hit by oncoming cars. So what should you do? Again, all of this is safety advice, not legal advice: Use your common sense. Put on your emergency flashers and call 911. Assess the traffic situation. If it is safe to exit a disabled vehicle, get to the shoulder of the road, as far away from the road as possible. I like to carry a powerful flashlight that blinks or has a strobe mode. I always travel with a jacket or vest that is bright orange or any phosphorescent color. I keep it in the back seat so I do not have to search the trunk for it. Never stand behind the car or between the car and the highway.

Be very careful when driving at night

There are constant ads for special glasses for drivers to use at night. Most of them do not work (I have tried many) and it just reduces your vision. I have asked eye doctors if there are good night vision glasses and they’ve generally responded no, apart from very expensive night vision tools by the military that are not available to civilian drivers. If you are having trouble driving at night, dealing with headlights, experiencing night vision, don’t drive at night! Plan every trip, short and long, so that you can stop by nightfall and get a good night of sleep. If you are planning any trip, items to keep in your car should include a powerful strobe flashlight and highly visible jacket or vest. It is a good idea to keep this in your vehicle for night driving anyway.

I hope these tips are helpful and keep you safe.

The Facts About Truck Safety

As mentioned above, I’ve handled many cases over the years in which trucks injured or killed automobile drivers. Here are the details on the dangers trucks pose. I do not mean to demean truck drivers. Most are good people trying to make a living carrying cargo that many of us may ultimately use or depend on. But you should know the key facts. I will never forget a mother telling me she was stopped in traffic talking to her mother and then in the next second her mother was dead. A truck driver had experienced a micro-nap and slammed his truck into the rear of their car.

I noted the inadequate trucking regulations earlier. Here is a more detailed look.

• The 11-Hour Driving Limit: After taking 10 consecutive hours off duty, a truck driver is permitted to drive a maximum of 11 hours.
• The 14-Hour On-Duty Window: A truck driver’s total workday cannot exceed a 14-hour window. This clock starts ticking the moment they begin any work (including pre-trip inspections, fueling, or loading cargo). Once those 14 hours pass, they cannot drive again until they take 10 consecutive hours off duty, even if they didn’t hit their 11-hour driving maximum.
• The 30-Minute Break: Drivers must take a mandatory 30-minute rest break after 8 cumulative hours of driving before they can continue operating the vehicle.

Think about these rules for a few minutes: Have you ever driven 11 hours or even just worked 14 hours in one day? The federal regulations only require a mandatory 30 minute rest after 8 hours of driving! As I said, most people would be zombies after driving this much in a day. And then, imagine getting up the next day and doing it again. Federal regulations have what is known as The Weekly Cap: Drivers cannot drive after accumulating 60 hours on-duty in 7 consecutive days or 70 hours in 8 consecutive days. This equates to driving an average of 8 and a half hours every single day for a week straight! While they must take a 34-hour consecutive rest period (known as the 34-hour restart) after reaching these limits, they can then do it again for another 7-8 days.

Again, a truck driver can be behind the wheel up to 11 hours in a single day and is allowed to average driving more than 8 and half hours every day for a week!

Is it any wonder that some truck drivers fall asleep or experience what we call micro sleeps or micro-naps. Remember, they are driving an 80,000 lbs. vehicle down the highway and will travel the equivalent of a football field if they experience a 3 second micro-nap or just lose their focus for 3 seconds. Many independent truck drivers are paid by the mile, not by the hour. If the wheels are not turning, they are not making money. Compliance with federal regulations is an astonishingly low bar. Mere compliance with the law does not guarantee alertness behind the wheel, to say the least.

Here are the sad facts about trucking accidents and the deaths and injuries they cause:

1. Large Truck Crash Fatalities

• 2024: 5,340 people lost their lives in collisions involving large trucks. While this represents a modest 2.5% decrease from the post-pandemic peak in 2023, it is still roughly 30% higher than a decade ago.
• 2025 (Provisional Estimate): Early federal reporting tracks approximately 4,179 fatalities resulting directly from large truck-involved crashes. Traffic safety regulators credit this downward trend to heightened roadside enforcement and cracking down on unqualified operators.

2. Large Truck Crash Injuries

The federal government tracks these metrics in two ways: the total number of individual people injured, and the total number of non-fatal injury crashes.

• 2024: 161,201 individuals suffered injuries in large truck accidents. This marked a 5% increase in total injuries compared to the prior year.
• 2025 (Provisional Estimate): Ongoing data submissions currently record roughly 70,578 injury-producing events, resulting in tens of thousands of severe medical outcomes (including traumatic brain injuries, spinal damage, and severe crush injuries).

Key Takeaways from truck accidents:

1. The Victim Disparity: In these multi-vehicle accidents, 72% of the injured victims and 70% of the deceased are the drivers and passengers of the other vehicles, not the truck drivers.
2. When They Occur: 62% of these fatal truck collisions occur during bright daylight hours—debunking the common myth that these catastrophic accidents are strictly a nighttime hazard.