Police Participate In Safe Family Travel Campaign

Last updated on Friday, November 16, 2012

(SHOALS) - In an effort to make the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday travel period safer, the Indiana State Police and Martin County Police will be joining approximately 250 other law enforcement agencies statewide in participating in the annual Safe Family Travel campaign.

Beginning Friday, November 16 and running through Sunday, December 2 the Indiana State Police will be conducting high visibility enforcement efforts including sobriety check points and saturation patrols targeting impaired drivers and unrestrained motorists.

In 2011, alcohol-impaired driving in Indiana was linked to 140 fatalities (increase from 135 fatalities in 2010) and more than 2,000 injuries (decrease from 2,183 injuries in 2010). Alcohol-impaired collisions were less than 3 percent of all Indiana crashes, but accounted for 19 percent of Indiana's 749 traffic fatalities in 2011.

So to kick off the Safe Family Travel campaign troopers from the Jasper Post will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint at an undisclosed location in Daviess County on this coming Friday, November 16. Those drivers passing through the check point area should have their licenses and registrations ready to present to troopers and will only be detained briefly while troopers determine whether further investigation is necessary.

Please help do your part to make the Thanksgiving Holiday travel period safe by observing the following safety rules:

If you are planning to travel make sure you are well rested, a fatigued driver is a dangerous driver.
Avoid tailgating; remember the two-second rule.
Make sure everyone is buckled up.
Put down the electronic devices and drive.
Don't Drink and Drive
Move over, slow down for emergency and highway service vehicles.

In addition to the alcohol-related fatalities, date further shows that there were a total of 235 injuries and 32 serious bodily injuries reported this month. Likewise, in addition to the fatalities that occurred due to non-restraint use, there were 476 injuries and 68 serious bodily injuries reported.

Child passengers are also an impacted group. In 2011 there were 5,191 children, ages 0- to 15-years-old involved in collisions resulting in 3,951 reported injuries and 38 fatalities.

"Many of these injuries and deaths could have been prevented if drivers would just plan ahead," says Martin County Sgt. Keith Keller. "That is why I want to caution all drivers that if you are caught not wearing your seatbelt, or you have child passengers who are not properly restrained, you will be stopped and you will receive a ticket. If you are caught driving impaired, we will detect you and ultimately place you under arrest."

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car occupants is reduced by 45 percent and the risk of moderate to serious injury is reduced by 50 percent when seat belts are worn correctly.

1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com

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