Safe holiday travel
LANSING–With Memorial Day almost here, the Michigan State Police (MSP) is reminding motorists to make safety a priority during their holiday travel. Again this year, MSP troopers will join their counterparts from across the country in the international traffic safety initiative, Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort).
“Be warned that as part of Operation C.A.R.E. and the statewide Click It or Ticket safety belt enforcement campaign, troopers will take a zero-tolerance approach to unbuckled motorists,” stated Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the MSP. “In addition to looking for safety belt and child restraint violations, troopers will be on the lookout for drivers who are under the influence of alcohol or are driving in a reckless and unsafe manner.”
The official Memorial Day weekend begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 24, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 27, 2013. Last year, nine fatal traffic crashes resulted in ten deaths over the Memorial Day weekend.
Of those who died, three were not wearing a seat belt.
Operation C.A.R.E. began in 1977 as a collaborative effort between the MSP and the Indiana State Police and is one of the nation’s longest-running traffic safety initiatives.
Today, it includes state police and highway patrol agencies from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ontario Provincial Police, Quebec Police Force and the U.S. Virgin Islands.