Starting this tomorrow two Dubois County law enforcement agencies along with the Jasper Post of the Indiana State Police will take part in special statewide thanksgiving holiday patrols in order to make sure motorist are safe along Indiana roadways through the upcoming holiday.
Officiers with the Jasper Police Department along with deputies with the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department and state police troopers will lay on the extra heat starting tomorrow and continuing through Sunday December 4th.
What is known as the safe family travel campaign will be on the lookout for seat belt violations and impaired driving.
Over 250 law enforcement agencies across the state will be putting in thousands of overtime hours to ensure motorists travel safely this Thanksgiving holiday season.
The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute says during last year’s campaign, there were 533 alcohol-related crashes statewide, resulting in 220 injuries and seven fatalities. Also during that time period, authorities in the hoosier state counted 285 accidents involving a driver or a passenger who was unrestrained. Those crashes where seat belts were not in use resulted in 302 injuries and 16 fatalities.
Police taking part in the Thanksgiving blitz will remind motorists and passengers about the importance of buckling up. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says proper restraint use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front-seat occupants of passenger cars by 45 percent.
To help make the Thanksgiving holiday travel period safe, law enforcement agencies urge the motorists to:
Get some rest. Police say a fatigued driver is a dangerous driver.
• Avoid tailgating by remembering the two-second rule.
• Ensure everyone in the vehicle is buckled up.
• Forget about using a cellphone while driving.
• Never drink and drive.
• Move over and slow for emergency and highway service vehicles.
• Report erratic driving by dialing 911. Callers should be prepared to give as much detailed information as possible such as the color and make of the vehicle, the license plate number, which roadway is being traveled and the direction of travel.
The upcoming enforcement blitz is funded with federal dollars awarded to Indiana from the National Highway Safety Administration.
