With Independence Day upon us, many people are taking vacation time and hitting the roads. In response, the Connecticut State Police will be out in full force the entire holiday weekend.
"Speeders, aggressive drivers, the unsafe lane changes, the vehicles that can't maintain their own lane" are just some of the problems Trooper First Class Kevin Furbush says he and his fellow state police plan to target. It's all part of Operation Combined Accident Reduction Effort, or C.A.R.E. for short.
In addition to deploying most of its resources, like its new stealth Dodge Cruisers, on the roads this weekend, state police will also put sobriety checkpoints throughout Connecticut.
"People tend to maybe consume alcohol that don't usually consume alcohol. Or, if they do normally consume alcohol, they consume it to excess [on the holiday]," said Furbush.
Last July 4, state police gave out more than one thousand speeding tickets, more than 150 seat belt infractions, and 45 DUIs. There were also more than 300 accidents on our roads last Independence Day. The good news-none of the accidents were fatal.
Operation C.A.R.E runs through midnight on Sunday.
Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com