WASHINGTON —

Nearly 82 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home this Thanksgiving, up 1.6 million from last year, according to AAA .

About 90% of travelers, roughly 73 million people, are expected to drive. AAA predicts that number could rise if more people choose to hit the road instead of flying after the recent wave of flight cancellations. Advertisement

The National Safety Council warns 439 people may die on U.S. roads during this holiday weekend, a 12% decrease from last year’s projection.

That decrease is the largest drop among all holiday projections this year, said NSC’s statistics manager, Ken Kolosh.

"It is additional good news because Thanksgiving generally is one of the safer holidays on our roadways," said Kolosh.

Each year, NSC estimates how many t

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