Thanksgiving Driving Tips
The Thanksgiving holiday is a time of travel for many people, especially as more families stay in touch virtually and live farther apart. According to History.com, the American Automobile Association (AAA) estimated that 42.2 million Americans traveled 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 2010. With gas prices dipping and making travel more likely for people this year, we’re expecting very busy roads. It’s very important to be aware of your surroundings and prepare as much as you can for the traffic that we’ll be seeing next week.
If you’re on the road working over the Thanksgiving holiday, keep these things in mind:
- Congestion, and not just due to flu season! There will be more drivers on the road, which will cause slow-downs. An overall increase in traffic will put more vehicles closer together at times, and it will be important to adjust speed to allow for safe distance between you and the people around you.
- Weather is always a factor. Our delivery areas have varied weather, but many places around the Great Lakes have already seen snow and ice, and that can happen any time. Be sure to adjust your driving for conditions.
- Drivers from out of town will be on highways everywhere. When people are unfamiliar with the area, they tend to have a harder time knowing which lane to be in, and can make poor decisions like changing lanes too quickly or looking away from the road to look at something like a GPS. Safe following distances and being aware of the lanes around you are your best bet for dealing with unfamiliar drivers.
- Cars full of distractions will be everywhere! Like a National Lampoon’s vacation, many people will be carpooling with relatives and children who don’t always have the attention of the driver in mind. Just like drivers who are unfamiliar with the area and driving in bad conditions, keep an eye out for distracted drivers and make sure to leave plenty of distance between you and other vehicles.
- Black Friday traffic will start very early! Many stores are opening on Thanksgiving day, some at 5PM, others not until midnight, but traffic around shopping centers will pick up far in advance. Shopping traffic will last through the night in some places, or at least pick up by early morning hours and continue for the rest of the weekend.
For those who will be traveling for personal reasons this holiday:
- Plan ahead and make sure you know where you’re going. GPS is a wonderful invention, but check your route ahead of time. You may find detours or other construction that are easily avoided so long as you know where they are. If your GPS tells you to take a different route and you’re not sure why, stop to see if it’s because there’s an accident up ahead, or ask the passenger to check. Google Maps and many others show roads as green or blue when traffic is normal, yellow when slow-downs begin, and red when conditions are really bad or where there’s an accident. Just remember you have to stop driving to look at navigation!
- Give the kids something to do. Riding in a vehicle, especially for long distances, can be boring. To keep kids out of the driver’s hair, keep them busy. Music through headphones, portable DVD players (also with headphones!), quiet games and other activities should be packed with snacks. Planning where to stop for short breaks can help, too, instead of realizing that you have to stop and there are not exits or rest areas for several miles.
- Leave early. Things happen! Slow-downs, detours, bathroom breaks, and bad weather can set you back. Even if it’s not crucial that you get to grandma’s on time, it might make your driving more impulsive and less patient. When you’re hurrying, you’re more likely to make mistakes or cut corners, and that’s a recipe for traffic trouble.
Thank you to our drivers who use their specialized skills and laser focus to drive safely no matter what conditions or situations arise! Have a great holiday, everyone.