Troopers out in force for the holidays
• Don’t drink and drive; designate a driver.
• Be aware of, and prepared for, changing weather conditions.
• Don’t text and drive and keep cell phone chatter to a minimum. Just drive.
• Make sure everyone in the car is buckled up.
• Don’t travel fatigued. Switch drivers or find a safe location and take a break.
• Drive courteously.
• Make sure your vehicle is properly maintained.
McALLEN – State troopers will be out in force until the beginning of next year to prevent accidents during a busy travel season.
Along with the increase in drivers, drunk drivers and rain could cause accidents, said Trooper Johnny Hernandez, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“Especially right now during the holidays, we have a lot of DPS units out on the road to reduce the fatalities in our state of Texas,” he said.
Between Dec. 20, 2010, and Jan. 1, 2011, troopers made 1,264 driving while intoxicated arrests, issued 17,436 speeding citations, 2,426 safety restraint citations and 2,593 no insurance citations, according to a news release from the department.
A Texas Department of Transportation grant funded the additional troopers on the road. The Texas Department of Public Safety received $1.5 million from TxDOT this year for the same purpose, according to the release.
Some drivers get into accidents when they don’t adjust to weather changes.
"Drivers need to realize that when it's raining, it's not the same as being dry,” Hernandez said. “You've got to maintain distance; you've got to maintain responsibility."
Although many highway speed limits are 70 miles per hour, drivers should adjust their speeds for weather conditions, he said.
It likely will rain steadily for most of today, said meteorologist Barry Goldsmith with the National Weather Service. Drivers heading north to San Antonio or Corpus Christi will not have worry about snow or ice, but high winds are expected. Many parts of the country don’t have snow, but West Texas and southeast New Mexico already have some and more is expected there, he said.
The rain could cause flight delays if visibility is bad and clouds are low, Goldsmith said.
Members of the Martinez family from Mission said they had a delayed flight while returning from a visit to New Jersey, but it wasn’t because of weather.
Aaron Martinez, 16, said they waited in the plane for an hour Friday because the company had overbooked and needed passengers to volunteer to take another flight. Family members described the flight north to New Jersey as “chaos” because of the busy airports and planes.
According to AAA, a national travel association, more people will travel 50 miles or more from home this season, but fewer people will get to their destination by plane.
AAA predicts that 91.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. That is a 1.4 percent increase over the 90.7 million people who traveled last year. However, only 5.4 million people are expected to fly, which is down 9.7 percent from last year.
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Gail Burkhardt covers Mission, western Hidalgo County, Starr County and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at gburkhardt@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4462.
