NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you plan to travel over Christmas, Hannukah or New Years, you will have a lot of company.
AAA expects the number of travelers this year to be the highest ever since it began recording holiday travel numbers in 2000.
From December 21st to January 1st there could be more than 115 million people either hitting the roads or heading to the airport. Nearly 3 million of them will be in Tennessee.
AAA says this marks the eighth straight year we've seen record-breaking numbers for year-end travel, citing factors like low unemployment levels and improvements in both disposable income and household net worth as possible reasons.
AAA wants to remind you to stay calm and give yourself plenty of time on the road. Staff are concerned about the threat of road rage, which tends to increase during hectic holiday travel.
"The more people that you put on any given road you're adding congestion that can lead to some tricky situations and some road rage scenarios," Megan Cooper with AAA Tennessee said.
She says the best way to avoid road rage incidents is to pay attention to your speed and the flow of traffic in order to avoid causing problems for other drivers. Be tolerant and forgiving - other drivers might be having a bad day.
And do not respond if another driver tries to bate you. Instead slow down and let an angry driver pass.
If your plans are flexible, the busiest travel days on the road will be Dec. 26 and 27, right after Christmas. For air travel, Dec. 22 is expected to be the busiest day at U.S. airports.
