5 Holiday Hazards To Watch For

The holiday season should be a joyous time, but all the excitement and traveling can lead to dangers you won’t encounter at other times of the year. Holiday celebrations should never be cut short because of an accident or an injury, so stay safe when you’re at home or away and remember to protect yourself against the following dangers.

Vacation Burglary

Professional burglars like to target homes when everyone is away on vacation. This is because it gives them time to search the place and take everything valuable without worrying about interruptions. Since many people travel over winter break and during Thanksgiving and Christmas to see their families, the holidays are usually an active time for burglars. You can protect your home by avoiding social media posts about your vacation, installing a good security system, and asking a friend or family member to watch your home while you’re away.

Shopping Rushes

Stores of all kinds become busier in December. For many stores it’s because people are buying presents for their friends and loved ones, but even places like grocery stores get more visitors as people shop for holiday meals and ingredients. In fact, many retail businesses don’t earn a profit until December rolls around. All this demand and all these people looking for products can lead to a lot of stress, fighting, and stampeding customers. Stay safe by keeping calm, doing some of your shopping online, and waiting for crowds to disperse before searching an area.

Traffic Jams

With so many people traveling over the holidays, the roads get considerably more crowded. This leads to more accidents, especially in states like Florida where the population is high but the number of major highways is limited. You should do your best to avoid traffic jams and traffic accidents by using map applications to route you around jams, by timing your trip to avoid rush hours and rush days, by taking fewer trips, and by always driving sober while watching out for those that don’t.

Fire Hazards

The Christmas season is a time when many families and homeowners hang lights on the roof, in the windows, in the bushes, and on Christmas trees. For the most part these lights are safe, but over time the insulation can wear out, crack, and create fire hazards. Other hazards include dry Christmas trees and area heaters. To stay safe, be sure to inspect your old decorations when you bring them out again and remember to keep sources of heat and open flames away from flammable materials like curtains, sheets, Christmas trees, and wrapping paper.

Hard Packaging

Believe it or not, a lot of hospital visits that take place on and just after Christmas are the result of injuries that happen when someone tries to open a difficult package. Shrink wrap and wrapping paper aren’t very dangerous, especially if you can keep them away from small children, but hard-plastic clamshell packages are very sturdy and designed to protect their contents from shipping hazards. Impatient children can end up cutting themselves on the plastic if they don’t open these packages carefully.

Unfortunately, accidents, theft, and other disasters can end up happening even if you take the best precautions. If something causes property damage or a personal injury this holiday season and someone else is responsible, then you deserve compensation for your injury. If the injury takes place in southwest Florida, then you should call the All Injuries Law Firm. Our lawyers represent clients for all kinds of personal injury cases, and we’ll gladly hear you out with a free initial case review.