Highway Patrol plans holiday DUI crackdown
Published 8:54 am Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Watch that wassailing — the Mississippi Highway Patrol plans a tough crackdown on drunken driving as the heart of the holiday season arrives.
Col. Donnell Berry, director of the patrol, tells The Mississippi Press (http://bit.ly/vqcrg3) that they want families traveling for the holidays to arrive and return safely.
Master Sgt. Johnny Poulos of Troop K, which patrols the six coastal counties, says troopers also will be looking for distracted drivers.
The Highway Patrol has projected 655 traffic deaths for the year, the first increase in six years.
Since 2005, traffic fatalities decreased about 33 percent from 936 in 2005.
The Christmas traffic holiday period is from 6 p.m. Friday through midnight Sunday, with the New Year’s holiday from 6 p.m. Dec. 30 to midnight Jan. 1.
