For most families, December is a season for gift-giving and love, but it can also be a season of opportunity for thieves to take advantage of the unaware and unprepared. With the year’s final week of merriment just around the corner, there are a number of ways to ensure a happy but safe holiday.

To deter shop lifting, theft, breaking and entry and other crimes, the Howard County police will have additional officers patrolling local businesses in cars, on foot and on bicycles through New Year’s Day. They will also be paying special attention to impaired driving, speeding and other driving violations and conducting numerous DUI checkpoints. They advise County residents to be more careful and alert during the holiday season.

Holiday safety tips:

When You’re Shopping

• Shop, during the day if possible, with a group or in pairs.
• Always lock your car and look inside before entering.
• Avoid carrying large amounts of cash.
• Leave one hand free to quickly access keys or phone.
• Park in a highly visible well-lighted space.
• Never leave valuables or packages in sight in your car.
• If you feel uncomfortable when a stranger approaches, walk in another direction or walk backwards towards a store or business.
• Be very aware of your surrounding when using an ATM and try to avoid using them at night.
• Shop only with reputable online retailers that offer secure transactions.
• When the holidays are over, don’t put boxes for electronics or valuables in plain view on recycling day.

When You’re Away from Home

• If you are expecting a delivery, ask a neighbor to bring the packages inside.
• Have a neighbor watch your home.
• Secure doors and windows and turn on lights, a TV or radio so it appears that someone is home.
• Use automatic light timers if you’ll be gone for awhile.
• Don’t display gifts where they can be seen from outside.
• Stop mail and newspaper deliveries.
• Leave an emergency phone number with local police department.

Howard County General Hospital wishes you a very happy and safe holiday season!

Thanksgiving is the all-American holiday – a time for family gatherings, turkey with all the trimmings, and pumpkin pie. It’s not a holiday, like New Year’s Eve, that conjures up images of drunk driving and other holiday dangers. But, for a number of reasons, Thanksgiving turns out to be the most dangerous holiday of the year for drivers.

Why is this day so dangerous?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) notes that particularly heavy traffic, drinking and longer than usual car trips combine to create deadly conditions on the nation’s highways. The rising cost of  holiday airline tickets for a four-day weekend encourages more and more people to drive to their Thanksgiving destinations and often head back home, exhausted, after one day – or several – of over-drinking and over-eating.

The most recent data available (2006) from NHTSA on driving deaths during three- or four-day holidays analyzes  the percentage of fatal crashes caused by intoxication and the estimated number of cars on the road and concludes that congested roads, holiday stress and sleepiness all contribute to the high traffic fatalities.

A reminder from the Howard County Police:

“This holiday season, police will be aggressively enforcing traffic laws with attention to impaired driving, speeding and violations of seat belt and child safety seat laws. To combat holiday drinking and driving, police will be conducting numerous DUI saturation patrols throughout the next month. Police will also be paying special attention to underage drinking, which increases during the holidays when students are on winter break.”

If you have to be on the roads over Thanksgiving – or any other holiday –  remember to wear your seat belt, have a designated driver if you plan to be drinking, obey all traffic and speed laws, and be alert!

Happy Thanksgiving from Howard County General Hospital!