--- description: With highway fatalities already rising after years of steady decline, the upcoming July Fourth holiday could be a particularly deadly one. title: Why This July 4 Holiday Could Be the Deadliest in Years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abb1bda2b98ad2f/698854bfe53abafa9f4de329/los-angeles-traffic.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why This July 4 Holiday Could Be the Deadliest in Years by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2015 11:10 AM CUT  Rush hour in Los Angeles Rush hour in Los AngelesGetty Images by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2015 11:10 AM CUT With [highway fatalities](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/are-death-free-highways-possible-n191196 "undefined") already rising after years of steady decline, the upcoming July Fourth holiday could be a particularly deadly one. As many as 409 Americans will be [killed](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/zero-fatalities-highways-coming-our-lifetime-n299231 "undefined") on the road during the long Independence Day weekend, with another 49,500 injured, forecasts the [National Safety Council](http://www.nsc.org/pages/home.aspx "undefined"). If the safety group’s prediction proves accurate, that would be the highest tally for a Fourth of July holiday since 2008. “Drivers always need to be vigilant, but this weekend, focus on the safety of your family,” said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “A few precautions can help ensure a memorable weekend. Spending the holiday with family is preferable to spending time in the ER…” [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/july-4-weekend-may-be-deadliest-years-drivers-n384681?cid=par-time-article%5F20150701 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3942864/july-4-traffic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3942864/july-4-traffic/"},"headline":"Why This July 4 Holiday Could Be the Deadliest in Years","datePublished":"2015-07-01T11:10:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:41:39.881Z","description":"\"Drivers need to be vigilant\"","url":"https://time.com/3942864/july-4-traffic/","keywords":["Transportation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abb1bda2b98ad2f/698854bfe53abafa9f4de329/los-angeles-traffic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abb1bda2b98ad2f/698854bfe53abafa9f4de329/los-angeles-traffic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rush hour in Los Angeles","caption":"Rush hour in Los Angeles","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3942864/july-4-traffic/","name":"Why This July 4 Holiday Could Be the Deadliest in Years"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Driverless Cars: The Future of Driving","description":"Predictions about a future in which cars that will drive themselves have been staples of everything from science fiction to pop culture to corporate PR for decades. But now it looks like driverless cars, at least, may finally be hitting the road.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uDXtGW1i/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-05-06T19:21:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uDXtGW1i.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3942864/july-4-traffic/","duration":"PT4M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3942864/july-4-traffic/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```