Lower gas prices could spur last-minute trips

By Charles Tomlinson
Lake City News & Post Editor
Published: November 24, 2008

FLORENCE — State troopers expect to see heavy Thanksgiving traffic in the Pee Dee partly because a drop in gasoline prices could lead people to make last-minute travel plans, according to AAA Carolinas.

“We’ll have every available trooper out working, monitoring those highways ... to make sure motorists can get to their destinations safely,” S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Sonny Collins said.

AAA Carolinas spokeswoman Carol Gifford said the organization predicts a 2.5 percent decline — 8,000 fewer motorists and 7,000 fewer air passengers — in South Carolinians traveling over the holiday. Such a drop would be the first since 2002, according to AAA Carolinas.

“Despite gas falling to ... prices we haven’t seen (in South Carolina for) about a year and a half — in North Carolina it’s been a lot longer — people are reluctant to travel because there’s just so much concern about the recession and bad economic statistics coming out almost daily,” Gifford said.

Gas prices in the Carolinas — now $1.10 less than they were last Thanksgiving — have dropped more than 60 percent after reaching a peak of more than $4 a gallon in September, following Hurricane Ike, according to AAA Carolinas.

On Monday, unleaded gasoline in Florence was among the state’s cheapest at an average of $1.68 a gallon, Gifford said. The Greenville area had the state’s highest gas prices — an average of $1.86 a gallon.

Nonetheless, travelers should expect crowded roads as an estimated 526,000 South Carolinians will be traveling by vehicle over Thanksgiving, Gifford said.

The official holiday period begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday and will run through Sunday, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety.

“With it being such a heavy-travel holiday weekend, you will see a higher presence” of state troopers, Collins said.

Troopers will be posted at “problem areas” during the heavy travel days of Wednesday and Sunday as well as the busy shopping day of Black Friday, he said.

Collins advises travelers to take such commonsense measures as allowing extra time to arrive at their destinations, wearing seat belts and abiding by speed limits.

In 2007, South Carolina had 10 fatal crashes and 11 deaths on its roads, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety. The highest number of highway deaths in the past five years — 16 — happened in 2004, according to the department.

Authorities to give motorists advice on safety, S.C. laws

State troopers, State Transport Police officers and Families of Highway Fatality members will be at South Carolina rest areas and welcome centers Wednesday to distribute safety literature, teach motorists about South Carolina traffic laws and advise travelers of heightened enforcement.

In the Pee Dee, S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Sonny Collins will visit:

S.C. welcome center

Interstate 95 in Dillon County

Mile marker 197, southbound

11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Gas prices*

Average gas price in Florence: $1.68 a gallon

S.C. average: $1.86 a gallon

S.C. average gas price, Thanksgiving 2007: $2.96 a gallon

*Prices are for one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline

SOURCE: AAA Carolinas