Traveling tips to keep in mind during holiday travels

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - AAA predicts 53.4 million travelers over 48 million will be on roadways and as we are just two days away from Thanksgiving, many of you are loading up your vehicles to travel this week. Before you head out there are a few things you should remember.

“We ask everyone to kind of start at the beginning and prepare for the trip,” said SGT. Jeremy Burkett - Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, “We understand that you may be going down a highway or utilizing a roadway whenever you go see your family or friends this holiday season, but we want you to understand that there is going to be a lot more traffic on the roadway.”

Travel numbers are expected to be much higher than last year, but just shy of pre-pandemic numbers. All the more reason drivers should play it safe.

“You’ve got to be a defensive driver allow enough space between yourself and the vehicle ahead of you for you to be able to react. So if they have to stop for some unknown reason or some hazard in the roadway you’ve got enough time where you can reach to it, and you don’t have to worry about crashing into their car.”

Troopers are urging drivers to obeying the speed limits and wearing a seat belt, and don’t forget to move over.

“So if you see any type of emergency vehicle whether it be law enforcement, fire rescue or even a wrecker driver, if you see them on the side of the road recovering a vehicle or investigating a crash what you need to do, if possible, is move over to the next lane. If you cannot move over you need to decrease your vehicle speed by a minimum of 15 miles per hour.”

Sergeant Burkett says a good rule of thumb for longer trips, is stopping after the first hour of your drive to reassess your vehicle and give yourself a break. After that he says stopping at least every two hours or so for short breaks to defeat drowsy driving.

If you are still deciding on what time to start your trip, the best time to begin your travels on Wednesday is after 9pm and before 11am on Thursday.

Sergeant Burkett also wants to remind everyone to “don’t drink and drive”. He says if you see an impaired driver, you can report it by dialing *HP.

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