Record breaking travel expected for the 4th of July holiday
The upcoming 4th of July holiday travel is expected to be record breaking according to AAA of Southern California. The number of travelers over the Independence Day holiday will exceed 5 million statewide and 3.1 million in the Southland.
Travel is expected to increase by 2.8 percent statewide and in Southern California compared to last year’s Fourth of July holiday. An Independence Day holiday trip is defined as one of 50 miles away from home between Friday, June 30 and Tuesday, July 4.
More than 4 million Californians, or 79 percent of the total 5 million travelers, will go by car to their destinations – up 2.7 percent over last year. Air travel for California residents is projected to increase by 5.6 percent from last year to 642,000, and those going by other means will number about the same as last year at 419,000.
A part of the reason for the increased travel according to AAA are falling gas prices. In Southern California, gas prices averages are now just about 10 cents more than prices last year at this time, and most pump prices for regular unleaded are under $3 a gallon.
AAA said drivers should have at least seven hours of sleep before traveling and to make sure their cars are maintained and ready to go.
“Before you take that road trip, really inspect your vehicle,” Doug Shupe, a spokesman for AAA, said. “Make sure it is maintained according to the manufacturer recommendations. Check the tire tread and tire inflation. Check your batteries, make sure it’s securely in the vehicle, it’s not loose.” Shupe also stressed that people should not drink and drive and encouraged people to use their Tipsy Tow service. For the 20th year, the service is available from 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4 through 6 a.m. Wednesday, July 5, to help remove drinking drivers from the road. Tipsy Tow is available in the 13 Southern California counties served by the Auto Club. Tipsy Tow is not offered by all AAA clubs. Motorists, bartenders, restaurant managers, party hosts or passengers of a drinking driver may call 1-800-400-4AAA for a free tow home of up to seven miles. Callers simply tell Auto Club operators, “I need a Tipsy Tow,” to receive the free tow and ride home. A regular Auto Club-contracted roadside service truck will be dispatched. A caller does not need to be a AAA member to utilize the service. Locally, the Walter Clark Legal Group is offering a promo code for the ride sharing app Lyft. New and existing Lyft users needing a designated driver, or bar and restaurant employees or concerned friends wanting to get someone home safely, can use promo code WCLGJULY4 to redeem a single one-way ride home within the Coachella Valley cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Bermuda Dunes, Indio, and Coachella. The promo code is valid from 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 4, to 3:00 a.m. Wednesday, July 5, 2017. The rider will get a free ride.
