Holiday season a time for cheer, a time for safety

It’s the time of cheer, and a time of celebration.

Chain | Cohn | Clark wants to make sure you and your family enjoy the holiday season, while staying as safe as possible. With so many potential dangers affiliated with the holiday season — driving and traveling, celebrating with alcohol, and decorating your home, as examples — it’s important for everyone be aware of how to remain as safe as possible and remain injury-free.

Please take note of the following safety tips as you celebrate with your family this holiday season.

Home Safety 

The holidays and “home” go hand in hand — home decorating and home cooking, for example. But each year, we see tens of thousands of injuries involving holiday decorating.

As you celebrate in your home, please keep these notes in mind, courtesy of the National Safety Council:

• Make sure your Christmas tree has a stable platform.
• If you choose an artificial tree, make sure that it is labeled as fire resistant. Also, spraying artificial snow can irritate your lungs if inhaled. Decorate the tree with your kids in mind; move ornaments that are breakable or have metal hooks toward the top.
• Never use lighted candles near Christmas trees or boughs.
• Keep your pets and children away from poisonous plants and other potential hazards.
• If using a natural tree, make sure it is well watered.
• Check holiday lights for fraying, bare spots, gaps in the insulation or excessive kinking in the wire.
• Turn off all tree lights and decorations when not in use. Additionally, more than 10 percent of home candle fires take place in December. Never leave burning candles unattended or sleep in a room with a lit candle.
• When putting up decorations, use a step stool or ladder to reach high places.
• When preparing a meal, wash hands, utensils, sink and anything else that touches raw meat. And reheat leftovers to at least 165 degrees.

Celebrating with Alcohol 

It’s OK to have a little eggnog, but it’s important to plan ahead before celebrating with alcoholic drinks. During the holiday season, more people die in highway related crashes related to alcohol that any other time of year.

• The best call is to just say “no.” Resist the pressure to drink alcohol.
• If you do drink, designate a driver before the party begins. If you or your friends are going to a party and plan to use alcohol, decide in advance who will be the designated driver. Decide that drinking and driving is not an option.
• The main purpose of a party is to have fun with people you know. You can stop yourself before you go too far, you just need to choose to do so.
• Additionally, MADD and Uber has launched a national holiday campaign on Monday, in which Uber is directing riders to take a pledge on madd.org/uber to #LeavetheKeys on social media.

Traveling 

Tens of millions of people choose to travel during the holidays. Before you hit the road, keep these points in mind:

• Never drink and drive. Alcohol-impaired fatalities represented 31 percent of the all road-related crashes.
• Use a designated driver to ensure guests make it home safely after a holiday party.
• Make sure every person in the vehicle is properly buckled up no matter how long or short the distance being traveled.
• Put that cell phone away; distracted driving causes one-quarter of all crashes.
• Properly maintain the vehicle and keep an emergency kit with you.
• Be prepared for heavy traffic, and possibly heavy snow.

The Bakersfield Police Department will be running its year-end “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement mobilization continuing into the New Year. The campaign includes DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols.

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If you or your family members are hurt this holiday season at the fault of someone else, please call the injury and accident lawyers at Chain | Cohn | Clark at 661-323-4000, or visit the website chainlaw.com.