COLUMBUS – The auto club AAA expects more than 1.9 million Ohioans to drive to their destinations this holiday weekend, the second-highest Independence Day travel volume on record, as travel volume on the ground and in the air returns to near-normal levels.
Nationally, AAA expects the second-highest Independence Day travel volume on record with more than 47.7 million Americans hitting highways or crowding airports this Independence Day holiday weekend Thursday through Monday.
The auto club and the traffic analysis service INRIX predict the heaviest congestion during the late afternoons on Thursday, Friday and Monday so experts advise leaving earlier in the day to avoid heavy travel volume.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is working on more than 1,000 construction projects across the state this year and says efforts have been made to reduce the size of work zones as much as possible.
Drivers are advised to slow down and pay attention as they navigate work areas for their own safety, that of workers who might be on the job and of other motorists.
As part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over and Operation CARE enforcement campaigns, the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s primary focus will be removing impaired drivers from the roadways and ensuring all drivers are buckled up.
Last year in Ohio, 18 of the 24 fatal crashes that killed 25 people during the July Fourth travel period were involved impaired driving and 10 of those people killed were not wearing seat belts, Patrol officials said.