Want to travel safer to Thanksgiving dinner? Stay off Instagram

Distracted driving on Thanksgiving surges to the highest levels of any day, except for Christmas Day. U.S. drivers spend almost 2 minutes and 30 seconds per hour interacting with their phones on those days, according to a new study published by Cambridge Mobile Telematics.

On Thanksgiving and Christmas days in the past four years, driver distraction has contributed to more than 3,200 crashes, 1,800 injuries and 15 deaths, according CMT estimates. They estimate, using National Highway Traffic Safety Estimates, that distracted and drunk drivers killed nearly the same number of people in 2021.

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CMT started using mobile phone sensors to track driver distractions as far back as 2013. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, company now combines a variety of data points from smartphones and their apps to car sensors. Their AI platform helps to generate a detailed picture of car safety, in which phone use figures prominently.

So with record numbers of people traveling this year for Thanksgiving, drivers could face more dangerous situations on America’s roads. AAA estimates nearly 80 million people will be traveling from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2. The majority, 71.7 million, will be driving more than 50 miles.

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Even without distractions, the additional vehicles on the road make travel during the next few days more dangerous, South Carolina Highway Patrol Master Trooper Mitchell Ridgeway told the Greenville News.

“Any time you have extra vehicles on the road you have less space to move, and you have the possibility of collisions increase,” Ridgeway said. “There are more vehicles on the road, there are more drivers, and unfortunately, drivers do make mistakes creating collisions.” 

Most-used apps while Americans are driving

So what’s capturing our attention while we’re on the road? CMT data show drivers handled their phones 1:30 minutes for every hour they drove in 2023. CMT asked 1,200 U.S. drivers which apps they used while they are driving. The 30 most common:

California travel could hit record

AAA projects 71.7 million people, including 9.32 million Californians, will travel by car over Thanksgiving – an additional 1.3 million travelers on the road compared to last year. AAA also projects 1.1 million Californians will fly domestically this holiday, an increase of 2% compared to last year. Some 296,000 Californians are expected to travel by other modes of transportation, including buses, cruises, and trains, AAA says.

The best times to drive during Thanksgiving week

If you’re looking to avoid as many drivers as possible (distracted or not), AAA offers the best and worst travel times in general for the next few days. Interestingly, AAA says Thanksgiving Day has fewer traffic issues than the other days — besides the distracted drivers.

◾ Wed, Nov. 27 | Best: Before 11 a.m. | Worst: 1-5 p.m.

◾ Fri, Nov. 29 | Best: After 1 p.m. | Worst: 7-10 a.m.

◾ Sat, Nov. 30 | Best: Before 1 p.m. | Worst: 4-8 p.m.

◾ Sun, Dec. 1 | Best: Before 1 p.m. | Worst: 12-6 p.m.

◾ Mon, Dec. 2 | Best: Before 8 a.m., After 7 p.m. | Worst: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Contributing: Terry Benjamin II