COLCHESTER - Labor Day weekend is one last chance to celebrate summer before it slips away but it’s also of the busiest weekends on the road.
As you prepare to head to your holiday destination, State police are cracking down on drivers who are speeding or driving under the influence.
“This holiday I happen to be working one of the roving patrols, so I’ll be roving Troop K's entire patrol area. So I’ll be looking for the signs of someone intoxicated or under the influence,” said Trooper Dan Greenwood of the Connecticut State Police.
The beefed-up patrols started at midnight Friday and will run through Monday night. Impaired driving checkpoints are planned in Waterbury and Hamden.
Over last year's holiday weekend, troopers arrested 24 people for driving under the influence and investigated 281 crashes, including 63 with injuries. No deaths were reported. They also handed out about 1,300 speeding tickets, nearly 2,500 tickets for tailgating and other moving violations, and 47 tickets for failing to wear seat belts.
Trooper Greenwood told us during this weekend, Troop K sees a lot of drivers heading from the middle of the state down to Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island, for one last beach day.
Within 10 minutes of heading east Trooper Greenwood pulled over two different drivers for speeding.
One simple solution for drivers who want to avoid holiday traffic, stay off the roads this weekend.
“My brother lives in Bolton which is close so we commute that far and stay out of traffic and stay out of police checkpoints,” George Rolland of South Windsor.
Trooper Greenwood reminded drivers if you see someone you believe is driving under the influence this holiday weekend call 911 immediately.
UPDATE: As of 7 a.m. Sunday morning, Connecticut State Police say they had 3,836 calls for service, assisted 163 motorists, responded to 319 accidents (no fatalities), made 23 DUI arrests, issued 304 citations for speeding, issued 25 citations for seatbelts, issued 21 citations.