At the end of the war, many of the people who had gone to California for work returned home to the east coast on US 66. The eastward migration caused US 66 traffic to increase from record low numbers to the highest volume of traffic the highway had seen up to that point. By October 1945, 700–800 cars a day were traveling down US 66 in Arizona and some cars had as many as 17 people inside them. At night, there were up to 137 cars parked on the side of the road, so the occupants could sleep during the night. Drivers often traveled down the highway at dangerous speeds or drove for long periods, becoming fatigued. This, in tandem with increasing traffic, caused the number of fatal car accidents to rise exponentially. Between January and October 1945, 198 people were killed in car accidents on US 66. As a result, the Arizona Highway Patrol had to greatly increase the number of patrolmen on US 66 to crack down on reckless driving.