ST. LOUIS – Law enforcement will increase patrols in Missouri and Illinois ahead of the busy New Year’s Eve holiday.
FOX 2 spoke with troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Illinois State Police on New Year’s operations. Both agencies say they see hundreds of serious crashes on New Year’s Eve and Day every year due to impaired driving.
Troopers are reminding drivers to have a safety plan, like booking a ride-share or having a designated driver.
“We will definitely have added coverage and heavily-patrolled areas, especially the high-traffic areas, our interstates and major highways,” said Cpl. Logan Bolton with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. “We’ll still be looking for any traffic law, will make stops on anyone violating traffic laws. We’ll definitely be looking for impaired drivers, but that’s what causes our big issues.”
“With more traffic, there’s obviously going to be more crashes,” said Illinois State Police trooper Josh Korando. “We’re asking people to pay attention to what they’re doing, making sure they stay off their cell phones, make sure you’re not drinking and driving, follow the speed limit, and be safe. We want everybody to be able to get to where they’re going safely and arrive alive.”>
Drivers are also asked to move over if they see any emergency vehicles or law enforcement on the side of the road.