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Safe driving on Labor Day

Photo by Robert DeFrank/ The highways are expected to be busy Labor Day weekend, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol said it will be out in force.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Motorists are expected to take to the roads in the close of the summer months, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be out in force to keep order and spot signs of danger.

Lt. James Faunda said the post is expecting a four-day period of heavy driving.

“For us, the holiday starts on Friday, actually Thursday night at midnight, and it runs through Monday,” he said. “It actually signals the end of our Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, which concludes on Sept. 3.”

The nationwide program began Aug. 19 and called for increased troopers on the road with the mission of removing impaired drivers.

“Our impaired driver arrests are up at the St. Clairsville post during the last two weeks,” said Faunda.

The lieutenant said the patrol will wait to see what those numbers look like over the Labor Day weekend.

“Starting Friday through Monday, we’ve got 100 percent of our troopers who will be on the roadway,” he said. “We’ll also be using federal funding to put additional troopers on the roadway on overtime, above and beyond their normal eight-hour shift.”

Faunda said the good weather forecast and other favorable conditions likely will mean drivers will be drawn to the highways.

“It’s the last summer holiday of the year, and we expect motorists to take to the roadway in record numbers because the weather’s going to be nice out, gas prices are going to be reasonable,” he said.

“With Labor Day it’s kind of the summer finale, so they’ll be driving cross-country, visiting friends and family and just going on vacation,” said Faunda. “I think we’ll see the same number of travelers we did on Memorial Day, and traffic will be heavy on Friday and heavy on Monday, with a kind of a lull in between.”

As for how troopers will patrol the highways, Faunda said their biggest concern will be those who are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“No. 1, we’ll be targeting those people who are driving while they’re impaired,” he said.

Beyond that, Faunda said troopers will be looking for a number of violations, including seat belts, aggressive drivers, excessive speeders, improper lane changes and illegal passing. They will also be looking for people who ignore stops signs and red lights and for those going left of center.

He said troopers see hundreds of those violations during the weekend.

“Last year around Labor Day, we wrote almost 700 traffic citations during the four-day weekend, and our impaired driver arrests were up as well, which they continue to be in 2018,” said Faunda. “We expect this Labor Day to be no different.”

Faunda said an obvious presence of troopers hopefully will deter drivers from making poor choices.

“We’re going to have high visibility,” said Faunda who also said law enforcement will be out in many states, including West Virginia. “You’ll see troopers on the roadway everywhere you travel.

“I want to remind motorists that if they’re going to go out and enjoy alcoholic beverage, they should have a designated driver, and when you’re traveling across the state, everybody should have their seat belt on,” he said.

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