As the one of the busiest travel weeks arrives, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania State Police are announcing their efforts to keep roads safe. Several initiatives through Operation Safe Holiday are being put in place to take unsafe drivers off the road  The campaign will focus on seat belt safety and cracking down on drunk driving.

“Impaired driver crashes and fatalities are 100% preventable. These enforcement efforts are not about citations, they are about saving lives,” says Leslie Richards, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Starting Thanksgiving Eve, the Pennsylvania State Police will be setting up sobriety checkpoints and increasing patrols for impaired drivers. This enforcement effort will last through the New Years holiday. State Police say it’s important to have backup plans to get home if you’ve been drinking.

“Please designate a driver, take a cab or ride-share, or establish another plan to get home safely if your holiday plans involve alcohol,” says Lieutenant Colonel Scott Price, Deputy Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Another initiative of Operation Safe Holiday involves the “Click it or Ticket” Thanksgiving enforcement effort, focusing on driver and passenger seat belt safety. That campaign starts Monday, November 25th, and runs through December 8th. Last Thanksgiving holiday, there were more than 2,500 crashes, resulting in 18 deaths. This year, officials are hoping Operation Safe Holiday brings those numbers down.

“The Pennsylvania State Police would rather prevent crashes and unsafe driving behaviors than issue citations or have to respond to collisions on the highway,” Lt. Col. Price explains.

Part of the Click it or Ticket campaign involves free child safety seat fittings. Click on the following link to find any in your area: https://www.psp.pa.gov/public-safety/Pages/Child-Seat-Check-Events.aspx

Transportation officials are also reminding drivers they can monitor road conditions on major roadways by downloading the 511PA smartphone app, visiting https://www.511pa.com, or dialing 5-1-1.