State Police Taking to the Skies Over Wethersfield, Rest of State for Thanksgiving Period Patrols

Beginning Wednesday, the Connecticut State Police Aviation Unit will take to the sky to conduct "aerial enforcement missions" to "keep the roads safe during the holiday rush," state police officials said on Tuesday.

The strategy is, from an airborne vantage point, speeding, aggressive driving, tailgating, unsafe lane changes and other traffic violations can be detected, state police said.

The pilots, who are also sworn Troopers, communicate what they see to troopers on the ground for enforcement action. Pilots in the Cessna 182 Skylane can detect traffic violations in areas that are difficult for ground Troopers such as construction work zones, no passing zones, and roadways without adequate shoulders or median crossovers, state police said.

"Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends and celebration. Unfortunately, in the last five years we saw almost 4,000 motor vehicle crashes and 13 fatalities in our state over the Thanksgiving week," state police said in a statement released Tuesday. "Together we can prevent these tragedies. Leave early, slow down, avoid distractions, maintain a safe following distance, wear your seat belt and never drink and drive."

Beginning Wednesday and running through Sunday at 11:59 p.m., state police will supplement their normal routine patrols with additional troopers for the Thanksgiving holiday period.

Troopers will patrol roads and highways across Connecticut, and will focus on aggressive drivers, unsafe drivers, and drunk drivers.

Here are the 2015 Thanksgiving enforcement numbers:

• Speeding: 1,204
• Seat belt Violations: 432
• Other Hazardous Moving Violations: 3,160 (including unsafe lane change, following too closely, cell phone usage, texting, failure to signal, etc.)
• DUI Arrests: 46
• Accidents Investigated: 513
• Acciddents with Injury: 59
• Fatality: 1

Photo Credit: Connecticut state police