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When safety officials raise red flags before every Independence Day weekend, motorists often wonder exactly how much more dangerous is travel during the July 4th holiday.

Maybe highway death tolls on the July 4th weekend just seem high because it’s a three-day weekend rather than two.

A whole range of scientific studies confirm that Independence Day weekend is the most dangerous three days in a year-long health and safety threat that gets less attention than it deserves.

In February, for instance, researchers with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHT) reported on a major study of motor vehicle crash deaths in the United States between 1986-2002.

A total of 727,483 people died in crashes during that period. For every highway death, there are about 53 disabling injuries. So 38.5 million people suffered disabling injuries in that period.

The study, published in a respected journal, “Injury Prevention,” found that July 4 was the single most deadly day during the 17-year period, with an average of 161 crash deaths.

July 3 was the second most deadly, averaging 149 deaths. July 2 was in the top 10 most deadly days, averaging 138 deaths. Those days were July 4, July 3, Dec. 23, Aug. 3, Jan. 1, Aug. 6, Aug. 4, Aug. 12, July 2, and Sept. 2.

On an average day, “only” 117 people are killed in traffic accidents.
National Safety Council (NSC) studies show that the average number of deaths during the Independence Day weekend is 7.1 per cent higher than other holiday periods of the same length.

The Independence Day weekend toll may result partly from more cars being on the road, according to the IIHT study. Much, however, is due to driving after drinking as people travel to and from picnics, fireworks displays, and other activities, researchers said.

July 4 had a higher proportion of deaths involving elevated blood alcohol levels than any other day.

The Independence Day weekend, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. More than 40,000 people die each year on the roads and 2.1 million suffer disabling injuries. Can you imagine society accepting any other technology that kills and maims on such a horrendous scale?

It happens because human beings create what scientists term “illusory zones of immunity” around familiar everyday activities that supposedly are under their personal control.

Automobiles are the most dangerous way to travel, beyond any doubt. Death rates are about 0.80 per 100 million passenger miles, compared to 0.02 for airlines. Yet people seldom worry because they are right there in the driver’s seat everyday, totally in control.

Everyone, of course, is the world’s safest driver.

That illusion tricks people into overlooking the seriousness of cigarette smoking, obesity, and other major health and safety hazards, while getting distracted about risks that really are remote.
No other everyday activity carries as great a risk of dying — 1 in 79, according to NSC — as climbing behind that wheel.

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