(BILOXI, Miss.) State troopers will beef up their ranks on highways for the holiday weekend, which starts Wednesday at 6 p.m. and runs until midnight Sunday.
Public safety officials tell The Sun Herald additional manpower will help make sure motorists and their families reach their holiday destinations safely.
Statistics show there's reason for concern about traffic safety over the Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving is one of the deadliest for alcohol-related traffic deaths, second only to the New Year's holiday. That's according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Two people died in crashes on Mississippi highways on Thanksgiving weekend last year.
Col. Donnell Berry, director of the Mississippi Highway Patrol, says troopers will conduct safety checkpoints and will be on the look-out for impaired, speeding and distracted drivers.
