The Fourth of July is the deadliest holiday on the roads, according to new research done at The University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety.
“We found that New Year’s Eve and New Year’s, which used to be considered to be a really bad time, is really not nearly as bad as the Fourth of July,” researcher David Brown said.
He pointed to Independence Day being an isolated day off in the middle of summer as a potential reason for the results.
Researchers looked at Alabama’s traffic records on the Fourth of July itself as well as the two days before and after the holiday.
Impaired driving and increased speeds are some of the reasons more fatal traffic accidents happen.
The research also showed that more of these crashes turn deadly because people aren’t wearing their seatbelts. More drivers killed during this time frame were not wearing their seatbelts compared to the rest of the year.
In the days before and after the holiday, what time of day drivers hit the road doesn’t really impact safety. On the day of celebration, time does matter.
“We would say July Fourth itself, during the day is perfect,” Brown said. “That’s when you want to be on the road, but the early morning and the later on evening hours after it gets dark, those are the ones you want to avoid.”
As people prepare for their patriotic celebrations, Brown wants to remind drivers to not drive while impaired, slow down and buckle up.
