Troopers put safety first Memorial Day weekend

The Mississippi Highway Patrol will be out in force over the Memorial Day weekend as travelers take to the roads to celebrate the holiday.

Capt. Johnny Poulos said the Memorial Day travel enforcement period starts at 6 p.m. Friday and ends at midnight Monday.

All available troopers will be assigned to the roads, Poulos said, in order to maximize visibility.

"We encourage all motorists to please make safety a priority while traveling the roadways in Mississippi," Poulos said.

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Checkpoints will also be established to prevent impaired driving and promote seat belt use  in conjunction with the national Click It or Ticket campaign. All Mississippi law enforcement agencies will issue tickets for seat belt violations.  Click It or Ticket emphasizes interstate corridors including I-10, I-120, I-220, I-55 I-59, I-69 and I-269.

Last year, MHP investigated 124 crashes with two fatalities and made 128 DUI arrests on state and federal highways during the Memorial Day weekend.

"Our main focus is high visibility on the state highways and enforcing seat belt, speeding and other violations to help reduce traffic crashes being that Friday will be a travel day," said Cpl. Eric Henry of the Jackson District.

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Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.