Verra Mobility Corporation announced new proprietary data from its U.S. traffic safety systems, showing that for the past five years (2019-2023), the Wednesday before Thanksgiving recorded the highest number of red-light violations over the holiday weekend, while Thanksgiving Day experienced the most speeding violations for the past two years (2022 and 2023).

Verra Mobility analyzed traffic patterns across hundreds of communities in 21 states such as California, Florida and New York.

Red-light running data

• More than 57,000 red-light violations were recorded during the 2023 Thanksgiving weekend (Wednesday through Sunday).
• Red light running violations, per site, have continued to increase year after year since 2020.
• Most red-light violations occurred between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

Speeding data

• In 2023, the holiday weekend racked up more than 150,000 speeding violations.
• Thanksgiving Day averages the most speeding violations of the weekend.
• Most violations occur between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
• The average number of speeding violations, per site, has shown a slow downward trend since 2021.

AAA estimates around 49.1 million Americans will drive to their Thanksgiving destinations this year. Meanwhile, the National Safety Council (NSC) projects that 507 lives could be lost on U.S. roads during the holiday period. Car travel continues to have the highest fatality rate among major forms of motorized transportation, based on fatalities per passenger mile.

"The holidays bring an extra layer of distraction, which can contribute to more dangerous driving. This seems to spike around the Thanksgiving weekend, so drivers need to be more alert when behind the wheel," said Jon Baldwin, executive vice president of Government Solutions, Verra Mobility. "With speeding contributing to one-third of all traffic deaths, it's critical that everyone stays focused on following the rules of the road to avoid becoming a statistic. We want everyone to arrive safely to and from their destinations this Thanksgiving holiday."