During holidays, we see an increase in travel and traffic volume, which can lead to an increase in crashes. Motorists need to remain attentive to their surroundings, exercise patience, extend respect and courtesy to other motorists, and avoid/limit distractions inside the vehicle.

Last year during the Labor Day holiday weekend, 12 people lost their lives in automobile crashes in Louisiana—5 of these deaths involved impaired drivers.  Louisiana State Police Troop D as well as other area law enforcement agencies will be working hard to make this Labor Day weekend as safe as possible.  We will utilize roving patrols to target impaired drivers.

Additionally, this is a “no refusal weekend.” Procedures are in place to forward information about motorists who refuse to take a chemical test for intoxication to a judge who will be on standby.  If the judge determines probable cause exists, a warrant will be issued allowing the trooper to bring the impaired driver to a qualified medical professional who will draw a blood sample for analysis.

We will also be looking for aggressive drivers, impaired drivers, those that choose not to wear their seatbelts, and those that choose not to put their children in appropriate child restraints.  Louisiana law requires that all occupants be properly restrained regardless of their age or seating position.  While not all crashes are survivable, seatbelts can greatly decrease the chance of death and may greatly reduce the extent of injury.

This is a community effort, so we are asking for your help.  If someone observes another motorist driving impaired or in an unsafe manner, please report that driver to the Louisiana State Police by dialing *577 (*LSP) from a cellular phone or contact your local law enforcement agency.