Why the Fourth of July is summer time’s deadliest vacation on the roads

Independence Day is about fireworks, parades and picnics, certain, however there’s one other actuality — and it is a unhappy counterpoint to what’s alleged to be a celebration of freedom. The Fourth of July is the deadliest summer time vacation on the roads.

That is partly as a result of the vacation is pegged to a selected date. Although it will probably come on a weekend or be weekend adjoining, some years it falls midweek, on Thursday in 2024 for instance. You do not all the time get an extended weekend like Labor Day or Memorial Day, so driving journey could be extra concentrated, generally even right down to the sooner or later. Numerous consuming and different unhealthy choices could be focused on that day too. And greater than these different holidays, Fourth of July occasions coast-to-coast deliver out enormous crowds.

The oldsters on the Jerry insurance coverage app took a tough have a look at NHTSA crash knowledge together with Census Bureau data and got here up with some numbers and charts that you simply would possibly discover sobering (actually) this Fourth, when a document 60.6 million People are anticipated to be touring:

There was a mean complete of 429 deadly crashes nationwide on the Fourth of July every year between 2016-2022. That is up 17% from the typical in 2008-2015.
There have been practically 500 deaths by impaired drivers over a Fourth vacation weekend in 2022.
Practically half the crashes, 47%, concerned some mixture of dashing, consuming and medicines. A 3rd, 31%, concerned dashing; a 3rd, 32%, concerned a minimum of one driver drunk; and one other 12% concerned medication.
Three-quarters (73%) of car-crash fatalities on the Fourth are male. The bulk had been consuming.
Over half (52%) of these killed in crashes are below 40 years previous. Two-thirds (66%) of the deaths in that age group had been in drinking-related crashes.
There’s an enormous time-of-day uptick for lethal crashes, occurring between 9 p.m. and midnight as folks drive residence from events and fireworks reveals. There’s one other uptick after 1 a.m. if you add bar closings to that.
In some cities and states, the carnage is worse than others. Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit have essentially the most deadly crashes, likewise California, Texas and Florida, which isn’t shocking given their dimension. (California alone registered thrice as many deadly crashes as New York).
However when measured per capita, Detroit, Memphis and Kansas Metropolis are the worst. Additionally Montana and the Dakotas, maybe due to higher distances pushed.
And the issue is not only vehicles — Moms In opposition to Drunk Driving factors out that boating fatalities involving alcohol are additionally a giant drawback over the Fourth. The U.S. Coast Guard concurs that the consequences of alcohol on judgment and response occasions are significantly amplified on the water.

To handle the issue of younger folks consuming on the Fourth, MADD recommends utilizing methods from the Energy of Mother and father Handbook, saying a five-year research concluded that the e book helps teenagers grow to be extra prone to decline rides from impaired drivers and fewer prone to drive when impaired themselves.

The Jerry app’s report encompasses a dozen revealing charts. We have included two of them right here, however for a deeper dive, you need to try the total report.

On the Fourth, fireworks aren’t the one danger. Have a secure and sane one.