Now is the time to plan ahead for Thanksgiving travel

MASON CITY — Families will be heading out on the roads for the Thanksgiving holiday later this week and you should take time right now to make sure your car is ready to go.

Pete Hjelmstad of the Iowa Department of Transportation says plan ahead, give yourself some extra time and concentrate on driving.  “We’ve talked about it for several years, but distracted driving is what’s really been the issue. Everybody talks about the cell phones, and don’t get me wrong, that’s probably the most distraction, but there’s so much more. So many vehicles have all these new gadgets, and a lot of it is voice controlled which is good, but they can still be distracting. The other thing is too is it’s other passengers in the car, it’s kids in the car. There’s so many different things that can get your attention.”

Hjelmstad says pay attention to the basics of travel as you are heading out.   “Be aware of it, and if you can leave early, great. If you can’t, just make sure you pay attention, wear your seat belts, make sure your car has gas, make sure you have good wipers. Just the basics, the basics that so many times are overlooked, but can really make a big difference and can really cause problems if you don’t pay attention to them.”

Triple-A projects nearly 80 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving travel period.