More people are killed in road accidents in the United States on July 4th, Independence Day, than any other day of the year, researchers said on Thursday.

On average about 117 people died every day on U.S. roads between 1986-2002, although the numbers varied from a low of 45 to a high of 252.

“July 4th has more crash deaths on average than any other day of the year, with a relatively high number of deaths involving alcohol,” said Charles Farmer, of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in Arlington, Virginia.

More road deaths occurred in summer and autumn than during the other seasons. But New Year’s Day had the most pedestrian deaths and the fifth-largest number of daily deaths, according to the research reported in the journal Injury Prevention.

Half of all deaths on New Year’s Day were between midnight and six in the morning.

Farmer’s findings are based on data from the national Fatality Analysis Reporting System. He said August had the most deaths of any month. More people were killed on roads from June to November than from December to May.

Saturday was the worst day for road deaths and between 5:00 and 6:00 in the afternoon was the peak time.

In a separate study in the journal, Anara Guard, of Education Development Center Inc in Newton, Massachusetts, said 171 children under 5 years old died from extreme heat in cars in the United States from 1995-2002.

Twenty-seven percent of the children climbed into unlocked cars, while 73 percent were left in the vehicles by adults.

Thirty-two children were left by family members who intended to take them to childcare but forgot and went to work instead.