More people in South Carolina will travel this Thanksgiving holiday than in 2010, despite higher gas prices and airfare.
But the roads should be a little less congested than usual because more people are choosing to fly, according to AAA Carolinas.
This week brings the busiest four-day traffic weekend of the year. The S.C. Highway Patrol will have hundreds of troopers on the road, concentrating on catching speeders, drunk drivers and those who aren’t wearing seat belts or using car safety seats for children.
Thanksgiving marks the first travel holiday this year when travel is expected to increase.
About 550,000 travelers will drive, 4 percent fewer than last year, said Tom Crosby, a spokesman for the AAA travel group.
About 48,900 are expected to fly. That’s nearly double the number who flew last year.
“People are learning the tricks of airplane travel,” Crosby said.
They are avoiding extra fees by packing only carry-on bags and they have gotten used to the new screening methods that frustrated travelers last year, he said.
Even though airfares are up by as much as 20 percent this year, travelers who are going hundreds of miles are seeing a benefit to flying, Crosby said. That’s because gas prices are up by about the same amount. Rental car rates are down about 11 percent.
Travelers from South Carolina will average about 700 miles round-trip, and they should not see any significant construction delays in the state as all lanes are required to be open on heavy travel weekends.
They will see the typical higher gas prices and increased police presence, though.
Monday’s average was $3.14 for a gallon of regular unleaded in S.C., about 50 cents a gallon higher than last year.
Statistics showing road deaths slightly ahead of where they were last year provide the backdrop for the S.C. Highway Patrol’s annual effort to keep the holiday death toll as low as possible.
Sharp increases in pedestrian deaths and motorcycle fatalities are responsible for state overall road fatalities increasing to 729 from 724.
“South Carolina’s no-helmet motorcycle law is just an invitation to turn a regular motorcycle crash into a fatality,” Crosby said.
This year so far, 94 motorcyclists have been killed, compared with 81 last year at the same time. Of this year’s 94 motorcyclists killed, 73 percent didn’t wear a helmet.
Last year, 69 percent of the dead motorcyclists weren’t wearing helmets.
Pedestrian deaths have risen to 96 so far this year, up 23 percent over last year at this time, when 78 people died.
“Just as Memorial Day is the beginning of the summer season, Thanksgiving is the beginning of the holiday travel season and is probably the most travelled holiday of the year,” said Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Mike Oliver.
According to Office of Highway Safety statistics:
• Horry County is the most dangerous county this year for pedestrians with 10 deaths so far. That county is followed by Richland, Lexington and Greenville — each with nine pedestrian deaths.
• Charleston, Spartanburg, Sumter and York counties each have two bicycle fatalities. Most bicyclists killed aren’t wearing bicycle helmets. Of the 12 bicycle deaths so far this year, 10 were not wearing a helmet.
• Horry and Lexington counties have the highest number of motorcycle deaths. Horry has 13 and Lexington, eight. Anderson and Greenville have seven each.
• Greenville County leads in motor vehicle occupant deaths, with 32. It is followed by Anderson, 29; Berkeley, 28; Charleston, 27; and Lexington, 25. Richland has 22, and Kershaw, eight.
Thanksgiving traffic deaths in South Carolina vary sharply year to year.
In 2010, only three people died over the holiday weekend. That was down from nine deaths in 2009, and 15 in 2008. With the exception of 2010, eight or more people have died on S.C. roads over the long Thanksgiving since 2000.
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