Police Begin Holiday Travel Patrols

Monday, November 21, 2011 at 6:29 AM

News release from Indiana State Police

(Versailles, Ind.) – In an effort to make the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday travel period safer, the Indiana State Police will be joining approximately 250 other law enforcement agencies statewide in participating in the annual Safe Family Travel campaign. Beginning Friday, November 11 and running through Sunday, November 27 the Indiana State Police will be conducting high visibility enforcement efforts including sobriety check points and saturation patrols targeting impaired drivers and unrestrained motorists.

Last year there were 135 people killed on Hoosier highways involving an impaired driver. Nearly 25 percent of all fatal collisions were alcohol related and 18.5 percent of those fatal collisions involved a legally impaired driver. Since 2006, approximately one in every five fatal crashes on Indiana roadways involved an impaired driver.

Of the 754 people killed on Indiana roadways in 2010, 54 percent were found to be unrestrained. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), while more people were killed in traffic collisions during daylight hours, those killed in nighttime traffic collisions were far less likely to be buckled up. Your chances of survival in a rollover crash increase by 75 percent if you are restrained, according to NHTSA.

Please help do your part to make the Thanksgiving Holiday travel period safe by observing the following safety rules:

If you are planning to travel make sure you are well rested, a fatigued driver is a dangerous driver. Avoid tailgating; remember the two-second rule. Make sure everyone is buckled up. Put down the electronic devices and drive. DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE MOVE OVER, SLOW DOWN for emergency and highway service vehicles.