Alcohol is involved in more than a third (35 percent) of the accidents at the start of the new year. In comparison: during other nights it is an average of 16 percent, at Christmas it is a quarter (26 percent). In absolute numbers, there are three times more crashes involving drivers under the influence of alcohol on New Year’s Eve than on Christmas (an average of 22 compared to 7).
Many accidents continue to happen on New Year’s Eve well into the new year: while their number usually starts to fall after 4 am, it remains high until 9 am. Between 6 and 7 am, the percentage of crashes involving drunk drivers is highest: about 60 percent.
Motorists are involved in three-quarters of all accidents on New Year’s Eve, and pedestrians are involved in one in ten. In almost half of the accidents (44 percent) only one party was involved and the driver lost control of his vehicle. In other nights, that percentage is 28 percent.