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Roads to be crowded for the holidays
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Milton Fortner rotates the tires on a customer’s car at Milton Martin Honda. The service department is busy this week helping customers get ready for out-of-town trips for the holidays. - photo by Tom Reed | The Times
If you’re planning to travel for Christmas or New Year’s, you can expect more people to be sharing the road with you.AAA projects 93.3 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the year-end holidays. That’s an increase of 1.6 percent from the 91.8 million people who traveled last year.Although a AAA survey found 62 percent of Americans prefer to remain home for the holidays, roads still might be crowded, as 90 percent of travelers are forecast to travel by automobile, representing 26.7 percent of the total U.S. population.Motorists should make sure their vehicles are ready before striking out on a long holiday road trip.“There’s probably about a half-dozen things motorists should check,” said Curt Sloyer, service director at Milton Martin Honda. “They’re all real quick, simple things you can do.”Checking fluids like oil is key along with making sure all lights are working and drive belts and windshield wiper blades are in good shape, he said.“They need to check their tire pressures, and not just all four tires,” Sloyer said, “Check the spare also.