The long holiday weekend will mean travel for many Americans. While many of us will likely be celebrating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is reminding folks to use caution on the roads.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Vice President of Communications Russ Rader says the Fourth of July is a dangerous time on America's roads.
"If it's a typical July 4th, about 120 Americans will lose their lives on our roads... and that is the deadliest day, typically, on the roads," says Rader.
"There's more travel during holiday periods. More cars on the road means the likelihood of serious crashes is higher, it's just exposure. There also some things that happen on July 4th that are a bigger problem than on typical summer days. The big thing is alcohol. A bigger proportion, about 42% of the fatal crashes on July 4th involve at least one impaired driver. That's higher than the typical day where about a third of the crashes involve alcohol."
Rader adds "If everybody obeyed common sense, not only on July 4th, but every day of the year, we could significantly reduce the toll that motor vehicle crashes take. For example, simply buckling up. If everybody buckled their safety belt every trip, we could save a lot of lives... About half of all fatalities in crashes that occur through the year are people who weren't buckled up."
