AAA: road trips persist
- AAA reports travelers aren’t cancelling road trips despite rising gas prices, they’re cutting weekly driving instead. - The group also urges spring vehicle maintenance to prevent expensive breakdowns during heavier travel. - The message: road trips continue, but plan maintenance and local driving budgets to protect vacation plans ( ).
AAA says higher gas prices are changing how Americans drive each week, not whether they take road trips. (wvmetronews.com) On April 23, AAA reported the national average for regular gasoline had fallen to $4.03 a gallon after topping $4 earlier in April. A week earlier, the average was $4.09, and on April 9 it reached $4.16, the highest level AAA had reported this month. (newsroom.aaa.com) AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz told MetroNews that travelers are still protecting vacation plans by trimming everyday driving closer to home. The group’s April fuel updates tied this spring’s price run-up to high crude oil prices and stronger seasonal demand as warmer weather brought more drivers onto the road. (wvmetronews.com, newsroom.aaa.com) That keeps road trips central to the spring and summer travel season even as household budgets tighten. AAA’s newsroom said on April 2 that the national average had crossed $4 a gallon for the first time since August 2022, after rising from $2.98 on February 26 to $3.98 by March 26. (newsroom.aaa.com, newsroom.aaa.com) AAA is pairing that fuel warning with a maintenance push as spring driving picks up. In an April 1 Car Care Month announcement, the group said it handled more than 30 million roadside events in 2025, most often for tows, battery problems, and flat tires. (newsroom.aaa.com) Bryan Sander, vice president of AAA Automotive, said simple preventive work can cut the odds of a breakdown. AAA’s spring checklist includes testing batteries older than three years, checking tire pressure and tread, inspecting brakes, topping off coolant, and replacing worn wiper blades. (newsroom.aaa.com, wilx.com) The tire advice is specific: AAA says tires with less than 4/32 inch of tread lose traction on wet roads, and drivers should check the spare as well. The group also says brake inspections are due when warning lights, grinding, pulling, pulsation, or low-fluid alerts show up. (newsroom.aaa.com) AAA, founded in 1902, now says it serves more than 65 million members across North America, including nearly 58 million in the United States. Its message this April is narrower than a broad travel warning: keep the trip, watch the weekly fuel budget, and make sure the car is ready before the highway miles start. (newsroom.aaa.com, wvmetronews.com)
