ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Wednesday could be one of the busiest holiday travel days in years. AAA projects 81.8 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home this week for Thanksgiving, which would be over a million more than last year. Out of those, 90% are expected to drive.

However, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is also considered one of the year’s most severe nights for drunk driving, according to the National Highway Safety Administration. That’s because people are home for the holiday and frequently go out with friends and family the night before. Nicholas Pryor, manager at Marshall Street Bar & Grill, has some tips about how to stay safe.

“Go to your neighborhood bar. Go someplace that’s easy walking distance that’s a five-minute walk, 15-minute stagger. That’s perfect. They want you there. It’s your neighborhood bar,” he said.

Pryor said that, on Thanksgiving eve, there’s often a mix of people at bars enjoying time with family and some who may not have family.

“It’s a great night, but it’s a powder keg-style scenario. You’ve got people who are tired of their family already. They need to get away. They come out, they have a drink. You have people who no longer have family. They’re sad. They come in, they have a drink. And then you have the people who are especially happy who are with friends having drinks, but they’re having a great time in front of people who are having arguably a horrible time.”

A statewide “Stop DWI” campaign is underway to make sure people drive sober. It runs through Sunday. Last year, police arrested more than 1,700 drivers with DWI, issued 1,700 distracted driving tickets, and issued 10,000 speeding tickets during the week of Thanksgiving in New York State. If you plan to drink, make sure you have a plan for someone else to drive.

The NTSA says there were 149 deadly drunk driving crashes nationwide from 2019 to 2023 between Thanksgiving eve night and early Thanksgiving morning. That includes 30 in 2023 alone.

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