Safe travel encouraged for holiday weekend

With all of the activities planned around the Memorial Day holiday, the state’s Department of Public Safety reminds people to make driving safety a priority.

The holiday weekend also is the traditional start of the summer travel season, and that means more vehicles on South Dakota’s highways. South Dakota Highway Patrol Assistant Superintendent Jason Ketterling said the Highway Patrol will have more troopers on state roads monitoring traffic and enforcing state laws.

So far this year, motor vehicle fatalities are down 33-percent compared to the same time last year. Speed, alcohol and not wearing a seatbelt continue to be leading factors in most of the state’s motor vehicle fatalities.  Ketterling said that extra patrols will be out starting Friday afternoon through Monday evening.

Ketterling said that they see too many people killed in rollover accidents because they are not using their seatbelts.

During the 2021 Memorial Day holiday period, there were 177 motor vehicle crashes across the state, resulting in one death and 36 injuries.  

 

 

 

 

(Thanks in part, WNAX)

May 27, 2022