VU Medicine said the 4th of July Weekend is of concern because of an increased number of accidents, and this year wasn’t any different.
“We always see an increase in traumas each year,” Alison Wilson, MD, WVU Medicine Critical Care, and Trauma Institute Chair and Division Chief said. “There has been a national trend of record high trauma numbers over the last three months. We think it has to do with people being out more this year because of last year’s lockdowns.”
The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates 482 people may die on U.S. roads this Independence Day holiday period. Holidays traditionally are a time of travel for families across the United States. Many choose car travel, which has the highest fatality rate of any major form of transportation based on fatalities per passenger mile. Holidays are also often a cause for celebrations involving alcohol consumption, a major contributing factor to motor-vehicle crashes.
There is uncertainty associated with any estimate. The 90% confidence interval for the estimate of traffic deaths this holiday is 396 to 577. This confidence interval cannot account for the rapid lifestyle and transportation changes currently occurring as the country reopens from the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the unprecedented impact, the COVID-19 recovery is having on social activities, the uncertainty of this year’s estimate is increased.