May 13, 2026 - Economy
Worst times to drive over Memorial Day weekend
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Stay off the road Thursday and Friday afternoons if you want to avoid the worst Memorial Day weekend traffic, according to INRIX forecasts.
Why it matters: AAA predicts this will be the busiest Memorial Day ever for travel — meaning your departure time could make or break your trip.
Zoom in: Sunday is a good driving day, per INRIX, a transportation data analytics company that works with AAA to calculate travel times.
By the numbers: AAA anticipates that more than 45 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more over Memorial Day weekend. That's 200,000 more than last year.
- The bulk of them — more than 39 million travelers — will be driving.
What we're watching: Aggressive Monday-morning drivers.
- AAA and Cambridge Mobile Telematics clocked a 29% spike in Memorial Day speeding compared to other Mondays, with speeding peaking 7am–9am.
