UPDATE from 6pm Wednesday
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The long Thanksgiving weekend is the most dangerous holiday of the year for motorists.

The number of people traveling this weekend is up slightly from last year, according to information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This holiday is considered the most dangerous because of heavy traffic, weather and long-distance road trips that combine to create severe travel conditions.

State Police officers will be out in full force in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia during the next four days. They want to remind people of the basic rules: don't drink and drive, buckle up, use car seats for kids and watch your speed.

Police also say to expect the unexpected: watch out for road debris and be cautious around large trucks.

Also, frequent breaks can make a big difference in keeping you alert on the roads, and the back seat is always the safest place for children to sit.

Toll Director Steve Maynard says traffic along the 88-mile highway was starting to pick up around 10 a.m Wednesday and should continue until midnight.

Based on traffic counts from last year, he expected traffic counts to peak at about 2,100 cars an hour later in the day for a total of about 150,000 transactions over 12 hours.

The real crunch comes Sunday, though, when all of those travelers will be returning home, but over a much shorter time period.

Maynard says traffic from Princeton to Charleston will be heaviest between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)