Lower gas prices, more road patrols for busy Thanksgiving travel season

The holiday travel rush continues tonight for the busiest Thanksgiving travel week in more than a decade.

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The roadways were mostly smooth here. This, coupled with more good news — lower gas prices, “Down about 40 cents,” Chrissy Rockey of Vandalia said — just in time for the holiday.

Many others traveled by plane.

But as more than 54 million Americans travel in some capacity this week — the most since 2005 — law enforcement is doing what it can to make sure no one’s holiday is ruined by drunken drivers.

News Center 7’s Sean Cudahy was there tonight as the Montgomery County OVI Task Force conducted a sobriety checkpoint on North Main Street in Harrison Twp., stopping drivers and pulling some aside.

Numbers released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol show Montgomery and Butler counties are tied for third in the state this year when it comes to deadly OVI-related wrecks.

The highway patrol also released a video today that shows troopers arresting one driver for OVI every hour, over 24 hours. This was at the start of Labor Day weekend, the last big holiday weekend.

At Dayton International Airport this afternoon, Ramon and Kelli Key said they’re just hoping to get to their destination in Memphis, Tennessee, safely.

“We’re going to visit her parents and have a good time at Thanksgiving,” Ramon Key said.

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Troopers said about one-third of all deadly crashes last year across the state involved drunken or drugged driving.

For those who haven’t yet left, AAA says Thanksgiving Day should be the best day this week to travel.

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