GSP predicts busy Holiday Travel Period

Thanksgiving is Thursday and across the state, troopers with the Georgia State Patrol will be out in force, reminding motorists to practice safe driving habits as they travel.

The 102-hour holiday travel period begins at 6 p.m. today, November 21, and will continue through midnight, Sunday, November 25.

Troopers with the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) and Officers with the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD) plan to be out in full force, a high visibility effort to keep down the number of traffic deaths on Georgia roads.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Colonel Bill Hitchens, said that every available trooper and MCCD officer will be on patrol during the heaviest travel times of the period.

The Crash Reporting Unit of the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia State Patrol are jointly predicting 2,915 traffic crashes, 1,301 injuries and 20 traffic deaths on Georgia roads this Thanksgiving.

Last year, during a similar 102-hour holiday period, there were 2,760 traffic crashes that resulted in 1,227 injuries and 17 traffic deaths.

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend will also be an Operation C.A.R.E. holiday period.

Operation C.A.R.E., or Combined Accident Reduction Effort, is a program of the nation’s highway patrols that promotes safe driving on interstate highways during the holiday periods.

Hitchens encourages motorists who will be on the roads during the holiday period to plan their trips carefully by allowing ample time to reach their destination, plan for rest stops along the way, obey the posted speed limit, don’t drive if you have consumed alcoholic beverages, and make sure everyone in the vehicle is properly restrained.