With the holidays approaching, the Maryland State Police said they will add troopers to overtime shifts to ensure motorists remain safe on the road this holiday season.
Troopers from each of the 23 Maryland State Police barracks will continue to focus enforcement efforts on impaired driving, aggressive driving, speeding, distracted driving and other violations that often contribute to highway tragedies, especially during the holiday season, the police said in a statement Monday.
Additional troopers will work overtime assignments throughout the month, funded by highway safety grants from the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s Highway Safety Office.
State troopers will use a variety of patrol initiatives between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day to keep traffic moving, respond quickly to highway incidents and take appropriate enforcement action when violations are observed that threaten the safety of travelers.
An average of 145 people died from impaired driving crashes, 159 died from distracted driving crashes and 32 from aggressive driving crashes annually from 2014 to 2018 in Maryland, according to the MDOT MVA’s Highway Safety Office.
An average of 2,124 people were injured by impaired drivers, 17,908 were injured as a result of distracted driving and 1,550 were injured by aggressive drivers in Maryland during the same time period.
Troopers are urging drivers to avoid impaired driving and plan for a designated driver or a sober ride home.
