More than 1 million D.C.-area residents are expected to hit the road this week for the Thanksgiving holiday -- and extra cops will be right along with them on the highways.
Local police departments say they're planning to put extra patrols out over the next week to crack down on drunk drivers, speeders and seat belt law violators. Authorities say the high number of cars on the roads, fatigue and drivers buzzed from festivities all increase the potential for crashes during the holiday week.
The Virginia State Police is conducting an traffic enforcement initiative throughout the state from Wednesday through next Monday.
During a similar operation over the Thanksgiving holiday last year, troopers cited 831 drivers for seat belt violations; 253 for children not being properly secured; 10,116 for speeding; 2,780 for reckless driving and 175 for drunken driving, according to state police data.
Other police departments in the state are also planning for extra traffic patrols. In Leesburg, officers are focusing on seat belt enforcement in a "click it or ticket" campaign.
"Fastening a seat belt takes only a second or two, and costs you nothing," Sgt. S.M. McVay, supervisor for the department's traffic management unit, said.
Other local departments are participating in Checkpoint Strikeforce, a program that educates drivers about and increases patrols watching for impaired driving.
Maryland-National Capital Park Police will be conducting sobriety checkpoints from Tuesday through Sunday. The Park Police will also have increased patrols out to stop drunken drivers. And on Wednesday, Greenbelt police will operate an additional sobriety checkpoint and have officers patrolling for impaired and unbuckled motorists.
The extra patrols come as more drivers are slated to travel for Thanksgiving this year. The number of people expected to travel this year is expected to rise about 4 percent from 2010, according to AAA Mid-Adlantic, and 90 percent of those travelers will make their trip by automobile.
