Jul 3, 2008 6:45 pm US/Eastern
Police Beef Up Patrols For Holiday Weekend
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
Thousands of people have hit the road to out of town destinations for the long holiday weekend.
Gigi Barnett reports drivers can expect police to be out in great numbers and looking for aggressive and drunk drivers, as well as speeders.
With more than 34 million people nationwide traveling to their holiday destinations this weekend, there will be many vehicles on the roads and police say they started beefing up patrols Thursday.
The 4th of July weekend spells beach, Ocean City and road trips for drivers.
But for police it means more accidents, aggressive drivers and speed traps.
"They're everywhere," said one driver.
Maryland Transportation Authority spokesman Cpl. Jonathon Green says this weekend they will be everywhere tracking and stopping drivers and flooding the roads with marked and unmarked vehicles.
"We're going to be out on all of the different facilities across the state with extra patrols, unmarked vehicles, unconventional vehicles," said Green.
Drivers are looking out for safety, too.
"We watch what we're doing, and we watch what other people are doing really. And we don't ride beside people generally. We ride either in front of them or behind them, so when they make their evasive moves we're not in their way," said motorcyclist Richard Choyce.
The rule of thumb for most Independence Day holiday drivers is to leave early and stay late. That same rule applies for officers who are on the look out.
"We're gonna vary our hours and have personnel out obviously at the peak times, but also the non-peak times," said Green.
More than 700,000 Marylanders plan to travel this weekend. At least 600,000 will do it by car. Police say a safer commute could mean a quicker arrival.
"A serious accident can shut down a roadway, and that just makes it difficult for everybody," said Green.
Police will be stopping anyone they believe is breaking the road rules.
They say they are also looking for drunk drivers who, in addition to a ticket, could possibly see jail time.
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