Independence Day — Wednesday — is a motorist’s nightmare.

A driver not only has to put up with horrible traffic but also has to do so while sitting in a car that’s burning gasoline that is more expensive than it should be thanks to Wall Street speculators.

But here’s the punch line on Wall Street: Despite those speculators and gas station owners price-gouging, gasoline has actually come down in price leading into this Independence Day week.

Even with the US being in the middle of the summer driving season, gas prices fell to a national average of $2.86 a gallon last week, from $2.95 a gallon a month ago, according to AAA.

That’s not a big drop. But with Wall Street pushing oil prices to record highs, gasoline should also be reaching new highs.

And you might remember people anticipating $4-a-gallon gas just a few weeks ago. Well, that didn’t happen.

But don’t worry, the greedy speculators will try again to get prices higher before summer is over.