Extra Patrols Will be Out This Weekend

Here'a a somber statistic: Last year, in the three-day period between Dec. 24 and Dec. 26, 14 people were killed on Ohio's roadways.

Four of those deaths were alcohol-related, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The patrol will be out in full force this Christmas, trying to keep fatalities in 2011 to a record low.

“The holidays can be one of the most dangerous times of the year due to an increase in impaired driving,” Colonel John Born, Patrol superintendent, said in a news release. “Last year during the holiday weekend, troopers arrested 226 drivers for impaired driving.”

Last year, fatalities increased to 1,080 over a record low of 1,022 in 2009.

As part of national holiday enforcement efforts, the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services is assisting law enforcement around the state, including OVI task forces, in coordinating efforts to step-up enforcement of traffic and impaired driving laws.

Last year in Ohio, 39 people died in alcohol-related crashes between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

The public is encouraged to continue using 1-877-7-PATROL to report dangerous or impaired drivers, as well as stranded motorists.