Nov 28, 2019 2 min read

It is the nature of things in the second half of this century that we no longer have mere holidays, but in many cases have holiday weekends.

Not too many years ago. this Thursday would have been celebrated as Thanksgiving Day and everyone would have gone back to work Friday to wait for Christmas, the next holiday. But now Thanksgiving extends from Wednesday night through Sunday night as rapid transportation makes it possible to reach distant points and return in four days.

The four-day holiday weekend is most pointedly noted by the people who are concerned about the traffic toll on these long weekends. The National Safety Council issues a prediction of traffic deaths and subsequently and dolefully reports on the fulfillment of the forecast.

The Bureau of Traffic Safety of Pennsylvania issues a warning about driving safely and is joined by the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner.

Safety Commissioner Harry S. Brainard noted that 28 persons were killed last year in Pennsylvania during the four-day period which starts at midnight Wednesday and ends at midnight Sunday. The precise hours are used for careful measurement of the slaughter. They apparent!y don’t want anyone counted who is killed too soon or too late. It is curiously apropos that a holiday of the harvest should be the occasion for a harvest of highway deaths.

The Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, which should know something about highway and driving safety, joins in the spirit of the holiday weekend by urging that truck operators permit only emergency or essential trucking over the Thanksgiving weekend. That should help although adherence to this admonition may not extend to out-of-state truckers who also use the Pennsylvania highways.

Even in a world that is sometimes cynical and sometimes weary, Thanksgiving remains a refreshing and joyful occasion. Whether it derives its emotional uplift from the traditional end of the harvest season or from being the door to the Christmas season doesn’t matter: It matters that it is a friendly, joyous occasion and shouldn’t be spoiled by highway tragedies that arise from haste or carelessness.

Please drive safely over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.