It was a year ago that I rear-ended somebody during heavy Sunday-after-Thanksgiving traffic, in an accident that was wholly my fault and, based on later news reports of the day’s traffic, by no means isolated. 
Having learned my lesson, this year I drove back to Blacksburg from Charlottesville a day early, on Saturday, for the simple purpose of avoiding the traffic. Things got a little crowded around Roanoke, and south of there, it was all post-UVa-whuppin’ traffic going the other way.
Those who waited until Sunday were not spared. Fender-benders like mine were the rule, not the exception, and the newspaper account makes me figure it was just like last year. Perhaps, for once, I’ve learned my lesson.