Busy weekend traffic expected for July 4
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- The Ohio State Highway Patrol wishes a happy and safe July 4 holiday to all and advises the public to take precautions to get back home.
Lt. Brian McFarland of the St. Clairsville post said his officers are prepared.
"We expect the biggest part of the travel will be this weekend with people going out to celebrate. There's a lot of celebrations this weekend with the holiday falling in the middle of the week," he said.
"Every July 4 the biggest concern is impaired driving. That seems to be the big uptick," he said. "We have federal overtime posted for July 4, and we'll have troopers out working extra patrols to try and intercept impaired drivers.
"The weather's supposed to be somewhat nice. We expect the main part of the travels to be this weekend. If you're out and about and you see something, call your local law enforcement agency to report it and we'll try to respond to intercept it, and if it's an impaired driver we'll move them from the roadway."
McFarland said the patrol anticipates elevated traffic through Tuesday as people who are off work attend family celebrations.
The July 4 holiday takes place in the middle of the "Hundred Deadliest Days of Summer," as the highway patrol refers to the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The 100 days began with a few serious accidents at the beginning of June, and one fatality in the state. McFarland said locally there have been no fatalities, but other counties in the state have had significant fatal crashes.
"It's been pretty successful for Belmont County when it comes to the 100 Deadliest Days of Summer. We continue to look hard for distracted driving and educating the public on the new law that was put in place," he said, referring to the state strengthening the law against distracted driving in early April. There is a six-month "grace period" before the full penalties are enforced in October.
"We're not concerned with any road conditions or the weather. There are supposed to be some thunderstorms, but I don't think that will affect anything as far as people celebrating," McFarland said.
"There will continue to be strict enforcement of seat belts and impaired drivers. Troopers every day are out trying to intercept reckless drivers. That's how crashes occur, and that's our job to prevent those from happening."
According to a release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, troopers will be "highly visible and cracking down" on impaired drivers beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy as part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement campaign aimed at removing impaired drivers from the roadways.
Gov. Mike DeWine has noted many July 4 celebrations involve alcohol, which increases the possibility of impaired driving, and the patrol urges motorists to buckle up, drive safely and follow all traffic laws.
"Ohio has some of the country's best Fourth of July celebrations and we want to make sure that these gatherings are safe for everyone," DeWine said.
Col. Charles A. Jones, OSHP superintendent, said during last year's Fourth of July reporting period, July 1-4, a total of 16 fatal crashes killed 16 people. Of those, 11 crashes and 11 fatalities involved alcohol and/or drugs. Of the seven fatalities in which safety belts were available, five were unbelted. There were seven motorcyclists and two pedestrians also killed during this time frame.
"Too often our troopers see the tragic side of holiday celebrations," Jone said. "When you operate a vehicle impaired, you're putting the lives of everyone on our roadways at risk."
The patrol also made 447 arrests for operating a vehicle under the influence during the reporting period.
Motorists are encouraged to call #677 to report impaired drivers, drug activity or stranded motorists.