According to AAA, car travel will be down this July 4th holiday. It is estimated that more Americans will celebrate our country’s birthday by traveling by plane instead of car due to lower airfare prices. What might this mean for those of us who are still planning to pack up the car and head out on the roads?

If AAA’s predictions are correct, the number of drivers on the road this July 4th will decline 2% from last year, even with gas prices being much lower than the outrageous gas prices last summer. It is estimated that car trips will drop to 32.6 million from 33.4 million in 2008.

One of the reasons that fewer people will be traveling the highways is the decrease in the price of airfare. Air travel is expected to increase by almost 5% for July 4th over last year. Overall, fewer people will be traveling for the 4th. Because of the uncertain economy, leisure travel will be down 1.9% from 2008, with approximately 37.1 million travelers.

Road Trips for July 4th

If you are planning on packing up the kids for a good old-fashioned road trip this 4th of July, don’t expect the roads to be empty -there will still be 32.6 million of your fellow Americans joining you. Make sure your car insurance is up-to-date, and make sure you have a roadside emergency kit. It might be a good idea to check you car’s oil and fluid levels, and the tires’ pressure.

Keep Kids Busy on July 4th Road Trips

To keep the kids busy without portable DVD players, try playing road trip games like the License Plate Game, the Alphabet Game, I Spy or even Slug Bug. But please, don’t try the Quiet Game–if it didn’t work on you, it won’t work on them!