The holiday season poses heightened risks for commercial drivers, with a 10% rise in speeding events and a 32% spike in collisions on Christmas Day alone, according to Motive’s Holiday Outlook Report.

“Roads are more dangerous during the holidays. There was a 10% increase in speeding events from Dec. 17-24, 2023, and a 32% increase in collisions on Christmas Day vs. the rest of December 2023,” said Hamish Woodrow, head of strategic analytics at Motive, in a statement. “There’s a lot of pressure, so speeding goes up. There are more than 30 million speeding events every month in our network. It’s pressure and increased traffic on the road and weather conditions. The end-of-year period overall is a very dangerous time for drivers on the road.”

Motive’s data reveals a sharp uptick in dangerous driving behaviors leading up to Christmas, driven by tighter delivery deadlines, increased traffic, and hazardous weather conditions. Speeding events rose by 10% during the week before Christmas last year, while collisions spiked 32% on Christmas Day. More than 65% of these crashes occurred on wet, snowy, or icy roads.

Nearly half (47%) of all collisions happen after dark, even though more vehicles are on the road during the day. Hours-of-service (HOS) violations peak during the holidays as well, as drivers push themselves to meet delivery deadlines. In the two weeks following the rush, violations tend to drop.