ACROSS AMERICA — You may not think so because it’s so much fun, but summer is one of the most dangerous times of the year.

And the sun isn’t necessarily where the fun is — at least if you don’t protect your eyes and skin from it. Anyone can get skin cancer, chiefly caused by ultraviolet radiation from the sun or tanning beds.

Prolonged exposure to the sun can also cause photokeratitis, a painful, temporary condition caused by exposure to ultraviolet rays. It’s a bit like a sunburn, except it affects your corneas instead of your skin. Prolonged exposure can also cause eye diseases such as macular degeneration or cataracts.

What to do:

• The Food and Drug Administration recommends SPF 15 sunscreen, which blocks out 93 percent of UV rays, while the American Academy of Dermatologists recommends an SPF of 30 or higher.

• Don’t forget the sunglasses — that includes the kiddos, too, but don’t fit them in sunglasses bought in the toy aisle that don’t offer protection. The FDA recommends glasses with a UV400 rating or lenses that offer 100 percent UV protection. Keep in mind dark lenses and UV protection are not synonymous. Also, consider large, wrap-around frames.

• Wear a wide-brim hat for extra protection for your eyes.

Driving To Where The Fun Is

More traffic accidents and fatalities occur in the summer months, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association. That makes July 4 the deadliest day on the nation’s highways.

What to do:

• Don’t drink and drive. From 2016-2020, some 1,390 drivers were killed in vehicle crashes over the 4th of July holiday period — and 41 percent of the drivers who were killed were drunk, according to the NHTSA.

• Plan ahead for a safe ride home with a sober driver — even if you’ve only had one drink. A sober driver is one who hasn’t had anything to drink, not the one who has had the least to drink.

• If you’re hosting a party, make sure designated drivers have plenty of non-alcoholic beverages. Don’t let your friends drive drunk. Take away their keys, and make arrangements for them to get home safely or put them up for the night.

• If you see an impaired driver on the road, pull over and call 911.

When The Fun Is In Water

Drowning is a leading cause of death in children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More children ages 1-4 die from drowning than any other cause, except birth defects; and for children aged 1-14, it’s the second-leading cause of unintentional-injury death behind vehicle crashes.

• Related: How To Recognize Drowning

It’s not just children, though. Every year, 3,960 people die in accidental drownings, including boating-related drownings, or an average of 11 a day. 8,080 people a year — or 22 a day — survive drowning, according to the CDC.

What to do:

• Know what drowning looks like — and what it doesn’t look like. It doesn’t look at all like the dramatic scenarios depicted on television and in the movies. Real-life drowning happens quietly, without flailing arms and frantic calls for help. People can’t simply stop drowning long enough to take in a breath of air and call for help. The human body isn’t built that way.

• Make sure gates to private pools are secure and kids can’t access or unlock them.

• Make sure kids are supervised at all times — and no looking down at the cell phone the entire time they’re in the pool or at the beach.

• Enroll your kids in swimming lessons (and, with a national lifeguard shortage, encourage advanced swimmers to earn their certification).

• Everyone in the boat wears a life jacket — no exceptions.

• Don’t drink while you’re in the water. According to the CDC, 70 percent of all deaths associated with water recreation involve alcohol, 1 in 5 of them boating deaths.

Snakes Are Where The Fun Is, Too

If you’re swimming in a lake, hiking in the woods or just working in your garden, you can reliably count on a snake slithering nearby. About 8,000 people are bitten by snakesevery year, according to the CDC. Most snakes are harmless, but even those bites can cause an infection or allergic reaction.

You should know about the 10 deadliest snakes in North America:

• The cottonmouth, which likes to hide in water throughout the Southeast and in the coastal plains north to Virginia.

• The timber rattlesnake, found from eastern Kansas, Texas, Iowa and central Wisconsin to Georgia, the Carolinas, West Virginia, western Virginia, Pennsylvania and New England.

• The black diamond rattlesnake, found widely across the western half of North America, from British Columbia to northern Mexico.

• The tiger rattlesnake, found along the Arizona-Mexico border.

• The copperhead, found throughout the eastern and central United States.

• The Eastern coral snake, found throughout the Southeast.

• The Western diamondback rattlesnake, found throughout the Southwest.

• The Eastern diamondback rattlesnake (the biggest venomous snake in North America), found in the pinelands of Florida, the coastal plains of North Carolina and southern Mississippi through eastern Louisiana.

• The prairie rattlesnake, found in the Great Plains from Canada to Mexico.

• The Mojave rattlesnake (the most venomous rattlesnake in the world), found in the desert Southwest.

What to do:

• Be skeptical of consumer snakebite kits, according to the Snakebite Foundation, an international group of physicians, paramedics and scientists who treat snakebite patients.

• Before you venture go into the woods or some other place where snakes may be, make sure you have a plan on how to get emergency medical help — a good idea in any case. And make sure you have a fully stocked first-aid kit.

• While you’re waiting for medical help, lay or sit the person down, positioning them so the bite is below the level of the heart; wash the wound with warm, soapy water; and cover the bite with a clean, dry dressing from your first-aid kit.

Enjoy summer — because “that’s where the fun is.”