Memorial Day Traffic Alerts and Traffic Tips
Memorial Day Delivers Summer….. And Traffic!
Here are some excerpts from top articles on Memorial Day Traffic and what to look out for this weekend. Read and beware. Or, actually, we recommend avoiding the traffic but just finding a pool or body of water and kicking back with sunscreen on a float. It’s summer time!!!!
CNN reports:
A new report by the National Safety Council estimates that 439 Americans will be killed on the road this Memorial Day weekend, the highest number since 2009 and about 100 more than in 2014. (The final number for 2015 is not yet known.) Another 50,500 will be seriously injured, the report predicts.
How to reduce risk
Given that the rates of traffic deaths are largely due to how much people are on the road, the best way to reduce your risk is to drive shorter distances or to not drive at all. “I often tell people I can cut your driving risk in half: Just drive half as much,” Foss said.
Of course, that is not the advice people want to hear as they are packing for the beach this weekend or planning the perfect warm-weather getaway. Foss offered a couple of compromises. Take the highway instead of local roads, because all the traffic is moving in the same direction, and you will not have cars crossing in front of you. And choose a route that is congested. As irritating as that may sound, slower traffic is often safer.
Friday and Monday will, unsurprisingly, be the worst days to drive. (Tuesday’s not great, either.)
INRIX intelligence service provides these five tips
- Pick your destination wisely.
Depending on where you choose to go and which route you take, the amount of delay you experience could vary greatly. Once you decide on a destination, check the traffic often on the day of your departure to get early warning of accidents and other incidents along your route. It will help you know what to expect when you hit the road and give you the opportunity to find faster alternative routes around delays. In addition to our INRIX Traffic app, we provide route-specific traffic insights to local news outlets in most major metropolitan areas, such as Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC for this purpose.
Make your escape between 10-11 a.m. on Friday. Our analysis predicts the ideal window to get out of town will be right after morning rush hour. This could be your golden opportunity to escape the worst of the holiday traffic before the late afternoon rush ensues, which will start earlier than usual on Friday.
Alternatively, leave before 1 p.m. or after 7 p.m. to avoid the worst delays. Rush hour on Friday afternoon is expected to be its worst between 3-5 p.m., several hours earlier than normal. If you can’t leave right after the morning rush hour, try to get out of town before 1 p.m. to avoid the worst traffic. Otherwise, roads heading out of town should be relatively clear by 7 p.m.
Get smart about your city, and find out where it ranks on the INRIX Traffic Scorecard. The Scorecard provides detail on the top 25 worst traffic cities in the country and the worst roads within them. A scan of the worst roads list for your area and the amount of delay shown during the worst hour of the day are good indicators for what you can expect between 3-5 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
As you prepare to hit the road, download the free INRIX Traffic mobile app. Our up-to-the-minute traffic information ensures you have the most current insight into traffic conditions to help you get out of town. In addition to major highways, the app provides real-time traffic maps covering arterials, city streets and other secondary roads that will help you avoid congestion with minimal delay.
Here’s your FREE DMV question and answer. FREE DMV Question (answer at bottom of page):
A solid yellow line next to a broken yellow line means that vehicles:
A- In both directions may pass
B- Next to the broken line may pass
C- Next to the solid line may pass
Lisa Lippiner covers driving news for DMVCheatSheets.com
DMVCheatSheets.com, making the roads safer one test taker at a time.
FREE DMV Question and Answer: B is the correct answer.
