INDIANAPOLIS — Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. AAA is predicting nearly 49 million people will travel by car. Unfortunately, this time of year is also associated with higher drinking rates, which, combined with the sheer number of drivers on the road, adds to the dangers for the motoring public.
To prevent crashes, the Indiana State Police are ramping up enforcement as part of the Safe Family Travel campaign now through New Year’s Day. Officers are out in greater numbers conducting saturation patrols designed to discourage impaired driving and promote seat belt use.
The high-visibility enforcement is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI).
In Indiana, 932 people lost their lives on the road last year, a 4% increase from 2020. Of those fatalities, 12 occurred during the Thanksgiving holiday season, with more than half (7) found unbuckled at the time of the crash.
