Here's where State Police will ramp up patrols for Operation Zero Deaths for the Holidays
Houma-Thibodaux area highways have remained fatality-free so far this holiday season. State Police have launched an effort that aims to keep it that way.
Operation Zero Deaths for the Holidays is putting extra patrols on highways in Terrebonne, Lafourche and surrounding parishes with a focus on impaired, distracted and aggressive drivers. The program started Nov. 3 and will continue through Jan. 2.
“Every day, troopers witness preventable crashes that lead to lifelong consequences," Troop C Commander Capt. Lanny Bergeron said in a news release. "Last year, our area suffered significant losses, many of which wereyoung lives, due to poor choices made behind the wheel of a vehicle.
"As we come upon this year’s holiday season, these families will be experiencing the heartache of loss all over again. Our goal is to hopefully prevent another family from having to experience that pain by increasing our enforcement efforts. As you travel this holiday period, we ask for your help also in making Louisiana’s roadways safe by not driving impaired, distracted or aggressive.”
The end-of-year holiday season typically results in an increase in impaired-, aggressive- and distracted-driving-related crashes, police said.
Last year, 94 people were killed and 4,600 injured in crashes on Louisiana roadways between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. Of those fatalities, 11 occurred in the Troop C area.
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Troop C says it will increase patrols in these areas during the 2022 holiday season:
U.S. 90 and La. 308 in central Lafourche.
La. 1 in south Lafourche.
U.S. 90 in Terrebonne.
La. 70 and La. 308 in Assumption Parish.
La. 3127 in St. John and St. James parishes.
This article originally appeared on Daily Comet: Police targeting Houma area highways in effort to curb holiday deaths
