How To Be Safe and Smart This Memorial Day

Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who died while serving in the military.  Memorial Day is a time of remembrance but it is also a time of celebration.  As such, many Americans take this holiday for rest and relaxation with their loved ones.

As a nation, we may spend this holiday long weekend at the beach, lake, or pool as we celebrate together. Often, these celebrations can include adult beverages.  We want you to know that police officers recognize this and focus efforts throughout the holiday weekend, which includes, increased enforcement activities in an attempt to prevent people from getting hurt.

Police use different tactics to heighten their presence on the roadways during holidays such as Memorial Day.  In almost every law enforcement office, you will find more officers on the road during this weekend than almost any other time of year.  This is with good reason. Memorial Day remains one of the most hectic travel days throughout the year. The National Safety Council Anticipates there will be over 400 traffic fatalities this year.

Officers share that they look for lesser traffic infractions from speeding to seat belt violations.  These offenses allow officers to initiate contact with a driver in a safe environment. Often, the goals is to observe if he or she might be impaired.

Sobriety checkpoints are also more common over Memorial Day Weekend.  These checkpoints allow police to divert traffic and briefly stop vehicles at specific, highly visible locations to observe a driver’s condition. The officers present may stop all or a predetermined randomly selected portion of drivers.  All this is done according to a strict set of detailed guidelines that leave little discretion to the officers conducting the roadblock. The officers may initiate a DUI investigation if they suspect the driver is intoxicated.

This Memorial Day we want you to be safe. You have too much at stake not to act with caution this weekend. If you have questions or you need assistance, do not wait to reach out to us. We are your team of local attorneys and are available 24 hours a day to support you.