Millions of travelers hit the road after long holiday weekend
JACKSON,Tenn. — Millions of drivers headed home after a long holiday weekend. AAA said more than 42 million drivers were expected to travel 50 miles or more for the holidays. Drivers we spoke with in the Hub City called Sunday driving conditions, “tough” and “crazy.” David Holland and his wife spent nearly 10 hours in the car Sunday. “It’s been just solid traffic…from the time we left until now,” he said. Drivers said they encountered several accidents alone Interstate 40. “It’s been pretty much an all day adventure coming in from Knoxville,” Bob Neimeyer said. Neimeyer said he had planned to drive all interstate,but took detours to avoid grid locked traffic. Wall to wall traffic wasn’t the only hazard on the highway this year. “You have slow downs for no reason and I’m assuming that’s the rain that’s doing it,” Holland said. “When you get the interaction of bad weather and heavy traffic it makes for unpredictability,” Neimeyer said. With more than 450 miles of I-40 in the volunteer state state troopers were stationed every 20 miles as part of the annual I-40 challenge. “People need the assistance they can offer,” Neimeyer said. Holland said he liked seeing the extra patrols on the roads, “slow some of these people down. Especially in this bad weather.” he said. THP reported 40 wrecks on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2014.
