While Thursday was the busiest day at airports, Friday begins the busiest days on the road for the holiday travel season.
Nine million Texans are expected to travel between Christmas weekend and new year, with a majority of 8 million traveling by car.
With all the rain we’ve seen in North Texas over the last 24 hours, the roads will be slick on Friday morning and again throughout the weekend, so plan to not have the most ideal driving weather.
Ambulance service MedStar is a reminder drivers experience much-needed rain over the holiday weekend, remember to keep adverse weather driving safety on your Christmas list.
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During the afternoon rush hour on Thursday during the rain, Tarrant County ambulance service MedStar responded to 25 vehicle crashes, with nine of them resulting in a patient being transported to an area hospital. The prior day, without rain, during the same period, we responded to 8, with 1 of them resulting in patient transport, a 213% higher volume in the rain.
With that said AAA Texas is reminding drivers to make sure maintenance on their vehicles isn’t out-of-date and to double-check the vehicle battery and tires before hitting the road.
The agency is predicting they'll respond to an estimated 46,000 calls for service during this holiday travel period, with most being for services such as dead battery, flat tire, or engine trouble.
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“AAA Texas predicts nine million Texans will travel during the year-end holiday period this year – a 2% increase from last year’s record number of travelers and a 6% decrease from 2019, the last year-end holiday period before the pandemic,” according to a statement by AAA Texas. “Across the nation, AAA is projecting this year-end holiday travel period to be the second busiest on record, with 115.2 million travelers expected compared to 119.3 million in 2019.”
If you're wanting to avoid the most crowded driving days, Saturday, Dec. 23, and Thursday, Dec. 28 will be the most congested days on the road. Dec. 30 will also be crowded as people return home from their holiday destinations for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
AAA Texas said any time before lunch or after 7 p.m. is the best travel time to get on the road.
Remember that law enforcement will be out and about looking for anyone who might cause trouble.
"Troopers will be out in full force looking for those who are not obeying the law and those who may be putting others in danger. So for example, troopers will be out looking for speeders, people who are drinking and driving, people who are not wearing their seatbelt, distracted drivers as well as other violations,” said Sgt. Cindy Barkley, a public information officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Driving home for Christmas may be more expensive for some as gas prices are starting to tick back up in some parts of the state, including DFW.
However, these are the lowest prices we have seen during the holidays in three years.
