(Reuters) -A record 42 million people around the United States are expected to hit the road for trips over the July 4 Independence Day weekend, AAA said Tuesday, absorbing historically high fuel costs to crowd the highways. That figure, should it pan out, would surpass 2019’s peak, when 41.5 million people traveled by vehicle on Independence Day, according to the American Automobile Association. Less than two weeks ago, the average U.S. retail cost of gasoline hit $5 per gallon for the first time in history. While that is not an inflation-adjusted record, it still represents an increase of nea…