SACRAMENTO,
Calif. – As millions of motorists head out for the Thanksgiving holiday, the
California Highway Patrol (CHP) is prepared for one of the busiest travel
weekends in America. Unfortunately, in
the past, Thanksgiving has also been one of the deadlier holidays on our
roadways.
To help
motorists arrive at their destinations safely, the CHP will implement a Maximum
Enforcement Period (MEP) and deploy all available officers through the holiday
weekend. The MEP begins at 6:01 p.m. on
Wednesday, November 27, and continues through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, December 1.
During the
MEP, CHP officers will educate motorists and enforce traffic safety laws
throughout the state to ensure everyone has a safe holiday. Officers will be actively looking for unsafe
driving practices, including impaired or distracted driving, unsafe speed, and vehicle
occupants who fail to buckle up.
“Holiday
travel can be stressful. By putting some
simple safety measures in place, motorists can help keep themselves and others
safe on the road this weekend,” said CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley. “Most important, before you head out, ensure
everyone inside the vehicle has their seat belt on, and if there are children
along for the ride, check that they are secure in the back seat in the
appropriate child safety seat.”
Not
wearing a seat belt can be a fatal decision in a collision. According to the CHP’s MEP data, 59 people
were killed in collisions in California during the 2018 Thanksgiving holiday
weekend. Among the 42 vehicle occupants
killed in collisions within CHP jurisdiction, 43 percent of those, or 18
people, were not wearing a seat belt.
Research continues to show that wearing a seat belt is one of the
simplest things people can do to stay safe when traveling in a vehicle.
Another
way to help keep the roadways safe during the holidays is to designate a sober
driver. During last Thanksgiving’s
102-hour MEP, CHP officers made 931 arrests for driving under the influence.
The
mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and
Security.
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