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Connecticut State Police Step Up Efforts For Thanksgiving Road Safety

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. -- With tens of thousands of travelers expected to drive through Connecticut during the Thanksgiving weekend, State Police are ramping up their plans to keep state highways safe for all during the holiday.

State Police Trooper Kelly Grant. State Police will be out in force over the Thanksgiving weekend in an effort to keep drivers safe and to lookout for drunk and aggressive drivers.

State Police Trooper Kelly Grant. State Police will be out in force over the Thanksgiving weekend in an effort to keep drivers safe and to lookout for drunk and aggressive drivers.

Photo Credit: Jay Polansky, File

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and running through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, state police will supplement their normal routine patrol with additional troopers on all state roads and highways focusing on aggressive drivers, unsafe drivers, and drunk drivers. 

To help cut down on drunken drivers, troopers will be using roving DUI units, in addition to unmarked patrol cars to observe traffic and issue tickets to reckless and distracted drivers.

Every effort to reduce accidents will be taken; however, residents are asked to be a part of the public safety solution by obeying traffic laws: wear a seatbelt, don’t follow too close, drive the speed limit, stay off your cell phone while driving and, if you drink, don't drive, police said.

Police are also asking parents to remind all young people, especially college students returning home the first time this semester, of the laws regarding alcohol consumption and drinking and driving. 

If you see a suspected drunken driver, call 911, this is a true emergency. 

During the 2014 Thanksgiving weekend, state police made: 

  • 1,106 speeding arrests; 
  • 314 seatbelt arrests; 
  • 3,538 hazardous driving arrests (including unsafe lane change, following too close, cellphone usage, failure to signal, etc.); 
  • 52 DUI arrests; and 
  • investigated 934 accidents with 97 injuries and one fatality. 

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