Holiday travelers head home on busy roads

Interstate 40, Interstate 85 and Interstate 95 were packed Sunday evening as motorists returned home from their Thanksgiving travels.

Increase traffic also caused accidents that caused delays along major highways in the area, including N.C. Highway 751, but there were no serious injuries reported.

Last year, there were more than 400 collisions on state roads, including 11 fatal wrecks, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Speed was to blame in many of them – a factor that prompted a two-day operation by local and state police agencies across the country.

Troopers were positioned this weekend every 20 miles on I-40 from coast to coast in an effort to help create a safer driving environment and to save lives.

Last year, the Highway Patrol investigated 1,801 fatal collisions on North Carolina roads. Of those, speed was a factor in 245 of them.