Image by flickr user futureatlas.comImage by 2008628gas.jpg AAA says there will be fewer people on the road over the Fourth of July. The culprit? High gas prices.

It's not a big drop, but AAA Carolinas is reporting that they expect traffic over the Fourth of July holiday to be down about 1.3 percent from last year, which would be a decrease of about 7,000 people. The reason? You guessed it: high gas prices. Nobody wants to drive too far from home when it costs an arm and a leg just to get around town. But that doesn't mean the highways will be empty, or that Hyman's will suddenly have no wait ...

From ABC News 4:

"They're looking at staying a little closer to home and again that's just a 1 percent decline, so a lot people are still traveling," said Lori Jo Simmons, a general sales manager with AAA.

...

Despite the overall decline, AAA officials still expect there to be delays on the road.

"Definitely, it's a three day weekend for a lot folks so you'll see a lot of cars on Thursday, Friday morning, and then on Sunday. Wear your seatbelt and drive at a slow, steady pace," said Simmons.