AAA says travel nationwide during the Thanksgiving holiday this year will be at a 13-year high, as it predicts more than 54-million Americans will travel more than 50 miles this holiday – the highest number since 2005, which was the most traveled Thanksgiving holiday on record according to the organization.
Almost 90-percent of those traveling will be doing so on the roads. Heidi King, the deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is urging drivers to be safe and never drive drunk. In a video, she reminded North Carolina drivers that 24 people were killed last year during the Thanksgiving holiday period on state highways.
Gas prices are up in North Carolina from this time last year according to AAA, which says the cost of a regular gallon of gas is almost 13-cents higher than last Thanksgiving at $2.50 per gallon. That increase is even higher in the Asheville region, where the average is $2.69 per gallon. That's 23-cents higher than at this time last year.