General educational information, not legal advice. Review scope: federal rules and Texas/Wisconsin examples only, where stated—not a review of every state’s law. Applicable law, coverage, and deadlines depend on the jurisdiction and facts.
Holiday risk does not establish a monthly DUI ranking
Holiday celebrations make planning a sober ride especially important. However, crash fatalities, impaired-driving fatalities, DUI arrests and the number of drivers killed are different measures. Evidence about one cannot be silently substituted for another.
The sources checked for this review do not establish that July has more DUI arrests than every other month. The older article's headline should not be treated as a verified statistical conclusion.
What the primary sources report
NHTSA reports 2,719 people killed in motor-vehicle traffic crashes across the Fourth of July holiday periods from 2020 through 2024. It separately reports that 38% of drivers killed were drunk. The first number concerns all traffic deaths across those holiday periods; the percentage concerns drivers killed, not all people killed. These are not statistics for one July 4 evening or the whole month of July.
For the full year 2024, NHTSA reports 11,904 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities nationally. That measure involves a driver with BAC at least .08 g/dL and is not a count of DUI arrests.
The older article's specific arrest totals, annual July death average and teen summer percentages are not retained because this review did not verify their dates, definitions and denominators.
Plan before the celebration
Arrange a sober ride before drinking. A designated driver should not drink, not simply be the person who drank least. Do not ride with an impaired driver, and help guests arrange a safe alternative. If you encounter an immediate road hazard, safely pull over before calling emergency services.
Wear a seat belt and discuss safe pickup plans with young drivers and passengers. An offer to help with a ride is safer than expecting someone to judge their own impairment after drinking.