Police Heighten Enforcement For Thanksgiving Holiday
The holiday season is the time of the year when road traffic increases and the potential of getting into an accident increases.
According to a report appearing on the Dallas CBS affiliate station’s website, the Texas Department of Public Safety will be increasing their presence on our roadways just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Despite the upsurge in COVID-19 cases across the country, people are still planning to travel. DPS troopers will be increasing their patrols beginning Wednesday, November 25th, through Sunday, November 29th.
The DPS is working with the nationwide Operation CARE (Crash Awareness and Reduction Effort). Our state troopers will be looking for motorists driving above the posted speed limit, not wearing a seatbelt, and drinking while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. DPS troopers will also be enforcing Texas’ Move Over and Slow Down law.
DPS Director Steven McCraw told CBS that drivers need to make safety a top priority. The holidays may look different this year, but it is still up to each of us to obey traffic laws and make safety our top priority behind the wheel,” Director McCraw said.
The state’s annual Click it or Ticket Program is also a focus for DPS troopers through November 29th.
During the Thanksgiving holiday in 2019, DPS troopers issued some 59,146 warnings. Of these, 6,460 tickets were issued for speeding, while they wrote another 716 for seat belt and child seat violations.
DPS troopers also cited some 406 drivers for violating the Move Over & Slow Down law, and 1,247 motorists were cited for driving without proof of insurance. The Texas Department of Public Safety made some 304 arrests for motorists driving under the influence of alcohol over last year’s Thanksgiving holiday. They also made 231 felony arrests and 18 fugitive arrests.
