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November 19, 2008

Traffic blitz under way through Thanksgiving

By Patrick McCreless

staff writer

Alabama State Troopers got an early start overseeing Thanksgiving holiday travel this year by initiating their latest traffic safety blitz Wednesday.

According to a recent press release, all available state troopers will be out in force through the Thanksgiving holiday. The troopers will institute several campaigns that emphasize sobriety checkpoints and patrols.

“Troopers care about your safety,” said Alabama Department of Safety Director Col. J. Christopher Murphy in a press release. They will be working to ensure this holiday season is a joyous time unmarred by the tragic consequences of an alcohol-related crash,”

In addition to the patrols and checkpoints, several trooper posts will utilize special vehicles designed to combat drunk driving. Each vehicle is equipped with breath alcohol testing equipment and serve as temporary holding facilities.

Local law enforcement agencies will be on hand to assist the troopers during the blitz.

“We do have some highway safety grant money for overtime for extra patrols,” said Cullman County Sheriff Tyler Roden.

Roden said his deputies would step enforcement in certain traffic hot spots in the next few days.

“We’ll wait a few more days before we start using this particular funding allocation,” Roden said. “It takes a little bit of planning when you have extra personnel.”

Cullman Police Chief Kenny Culpepper said his agency received some overtime grant money as well.

“We’re not going to have as many as the troopers, but we’re going to have some extra people working,” Culpepper said.

Culpepper added his department would coordinate its efforts with the state troopers and the sheriff’s office.

Though law enforcement agencies will be out in force, they may not be as busy as in previous years.

AAA-Alabama projects a slight decrease in Thanksgiving travel for the first time since 2002.

Approximately 41 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a decrease of 600,000 travelers (1.4 percent) from last year’s total of 41.6 million. It will be the fourth travel holiday this year with a year-to-year decline in the number of travelers.

The overall state of the economy continues to present real challenges for some Americans looking to travel this Thanksgiving,” said AAA Alabama spokesperson, Clay Ingram. “However, the desire to spend time with family, combined with significantly lower gasoline prices than earlier this year, will provide a strong impetus for many Americans to travel this holiday season.”

More than 33.2 million Americans (81 percent of all holiday travelers) expect to travel by automobile, a 1.2 percent decrease from the 33.6 million people who drove a year ago.

The national average for self-serve regular gasoline is $2.05 per gallon. The current price is 87 cents less than a month ago and $1.05 less than a year ago. The Alabama average is $2.01 per gallon, which is 90 cents less than one month ago and $1 per gallon less than a year ago.



‰ Patrick McCreless can be contacted by e-mail at patrickm@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.

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