Missouri State Highway Patrol looking to keep drivers safe over Memorial Day weekend

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ.)

This Memorial Day weekend, The Missouri State Highway Patrol aims to help drivers stay safe while out on the road.

This year, over 37 million Americans will be driving to their destinations, according to AAA. That's 2.7 million more people traveling this year compared to last year. The Senior Vice President of AAA also anticipates this summer to be the third busiest Memorial Day Weekend since 2000.

With an uptick in travelers this holiday season, MSHP is asking drivers to include safety when planning their holiday trips.

Just last year, MSHP reported 13 deaths, over 1,000 crashes, 507 injuries and 131 people driving while intoxicated during the holiday weekend.

This year's Memorial Day Holiday Counting Period began at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and will end at 11:59 p.m. on Monday. MSHP says troopers will be on the road enforcing traffic laws and assisting motorists. 

This year, troopers will continue to focus on things like speed violations and impaired drivers.

"The number of vehicles that we stopped, DWI arrests were made, crashes that are worked," MSHP Cpl. Kyle Green said. "Things like that are all counted to see you know, what kind of progress we were able to make."

The Highway Patrol plans to operate it's Crash Awareness Reduction Effort.

Drivers are reminded to follow all of Missouri’s laws and to always wear a seat belt when traveling in a vehicle.

"There are a lot of people that are going to be out on the roadways over the next several days," Green said. "We want everybody to get safely from point a to point b. So leave a little early, make sure you that you've got a driver that isn't impaired on anything."