State Police to increase Memorial Day holiday patrols

PUTNAMVILLE -- The Indiana State Police Post at Putnamville will be participating in an effort to reduce injuries and deaths resulting from crashes on Indiana's roadways.

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) and the Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving will be joining 250 state and local law enforcement agencies to launch Operation Pull Over Blitz 67, "Click It or Ticket."

Indiana's 2011 Click It or Ticket effort will begin Friday, May 20 and continued through June 5, covering the heavily traveled Memorial Day holiday period. With an emphasis on urging more motorists to buckle up day and night, officers will be on the lookout for unrestrained motorists around the clock.

There will be special attention focused on nighttime drivers. Research has shown that motorists are less likely to use their seatbelts during nighttime hours, increasing their risk of death or injury in a collision by more than 40 percent.

While Indiana has reached a record high with observed seatbelt usage at 92.4 percent for all vehicles, not all Hoosiers are taking the use of seatbelts seriously, State Police say. According to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI), there were 754 fatalities on Hoosier roadways in 2010. More than half of those (54 percent) involved unrestrained drivers or passengers.

To ensure the safety of all motorists during this holiday period, the Indiana State Police will also participate in Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) from May 23-30.

Operation C.A.R.E. is a federally funded program and will allow additional troopers to patrol area roadways over this holiday period. Troopers will be specifically looking for drivers who speed, follow too closely, make unsafe lane changes, drive aggressively, failure to wear their seat belt or properly restrain their children in child seats, and operating a vehicle while impaired.

The Indiana State Police encourage all motorists to observe the following safety tips:

-- If you're planning to travel a long distance, make sure you're well rested. A fatigued driver is a dangerous driver.

-- Avoid distractive driving, tailgating, speeding and aggressive driving.

-- Use caution in construction zones.

-- Make sure everyone is buckled up in all seating positions, in all vehicles.

-- Never operate a vehicle while impaired. Make sure you have a designated driver.