You won’t be alone as you travel home on this holiday. Iowa State Patrol spokesman Jim Saunders says state troopers will be out on the road as part of a special holiday effort.
He says “Operation CARE”, or Combined Accident Reduction Effort, is a nationwide effort to put more officers on the state highways during the holiday to look for violations that tend to lead to serious injuries or fatal accidents. The effort started Friday and continues through today (Monday).
Saunders says they’ll dedicate additional shifts of troopers to look for things such as intoxicated drivers, excessive speed and seatbelt violations on the state highway system. Saunders says you can help in the prevention effort, too. According to Saunders, their message is simple: “Obey traffic laws and wear your seatbelt.” Saunders says many injuries and deaths can be prevented if people don’t speed and if they wear their seatbelts.
The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau says over 5700 people involved in Iowa crashes since 1986, have been spared death or serious injury because they wore a seat belt at the time of the crash.