Aggrostats

During holidays, we see an increase in travel/traffic volume, which can lead to more crashes. Motorists need to remain attentive to their surroundings, exercise patience, extend respect and courtesy to other motorists, and avoid/limit distractions inside the vehicle. These are behaviors that we should practice each and every day.

This week and throughout the Labor Day holiday we will be targeting the aggressive driver, the impaired driver, those that choose not to wear their seatbelts, and those that choose not to put their children in child restraints. The main reason we target these individuals is that these are key factors why fatal crashes occur.

Every year across our nation, impaired drivers kill or injure thousands of people. Impaired driving is a deadly crime and is still way too prevalent in Louisiana, especially common in young males 21 to 34 years old. Nationally, alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes were four times higher at night than during the day and thirty-one percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes on weekends were impaired on alcohol, compared to sixteen percent during the weekdays. In Louisiana, 303 of the 720 people killed (42%) in 2010 were involved in alcohol related crashes. Troopers will be working closely with local law enforcement agencies to make vehicular travel as safe as possible and will be participating in this year’s nationwide enforcement effort “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign designed to save lives by keeping impaired drivers off the road and reduce roadway fatalities. Across the state, troopers will be participating in DWI checkpoints, saturation patrols, and “No Refusal Weekends”.

Louisiana law requires that all occupants be properly restrained regardless of their age or seating position. While not all crashes are survivable, seatbelts can greatly decrease the occupant’s chance of death and will greatly reduce the extent of injury.

As troopers, we are dedicated in the mission of providing a safer environment for all our families.

We will be targeting particularly the interstate and federal highways, but at the same time will continue to have a strong officer presence on state and parish roadways.

This is a community effort, so we are asking for your help. If someone should observe unsafe or impaired drivers, please report them to your nearest Troop by dialing *577 (*LSP) from a cellular phone or your local law enforcement agency.

The responsible choice is to drive sober. Your safety and the safety of others depend on your choice.

Contact Information:

S/T Daniel “Scott” Moreau

Public Information Officer

Louisiana State Police – Troop E

Office: (318) 769-9USA (872)

scott.moreau@dps.la.gov

www.LSP.org

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