The Iowa State Patrol is joining with its counterparts across the country for a special traffic enforcement program this weekend. Patrol spokesman Jim Saunders says it’s been dubbed the “National Holiday Life Saver Weekend,” and provides the patrol with money to beef up their presence on Iowa highways. He says they’ll have somewhere in the neighborhood of 69 additional shifts of troopers on the roadways today (Friday) through Sunday. They’ll be a various locations, usually high-traffic highways, looking for speeders, seatbelt violations and intoxicated drivers. Saunders says the operation sends a safety message to motorists as we approach the Christmas holiday weekend. He says Iowa participated in the event last year too. He says last year troopers issued over 34-hundred tickets for violations from speeding to seatbelts, they assisted 224 stranded motorists, and arrested 26 intoxicated drivers. Saunders is asking drivers to give a hand too. He says if you have access to a cellphone and see someone who’s driving erractically, he says you should dial “star-55” or 9-1-1 and report it to the patrol. Saunders says their goal is to crack down on dangerous driving and have a fatality free weekend.
