With Christmas less than a week away, the State Police are launching Operation S.A.N.T.A.
The initiative, which stands for stop another needles tragic accident, aims to curb drunken driving with increased patrols during the holiday period.
“There are higher DUI arrests and accidents during the holiday season,” said Lt. Paul Vance, spokesman for the State Police. “We want to be visible and stop people before they hurt someone.”
State Police will increase patrols of roads and highways across the state, police said. The main focus will be on drunken, aggressive and unsafe drivers.
State Police will be out in force of the holiday weekend.
There were 562 car accidents, 92 with injuries and one fatality over the 2013 holidays, according to state police enforcement statistics. There were also 43 DUI arrests and 1,134 speeding tickets issued.
State Police began on Friday and will continue through Jan. 3 to increase DUI checkpoints and roving patrols along highways. There will be additional patrols on Interstate 84 through Danbury.
The DUI checkpoints are located where State Police have found the highest amount of alcohol-related accidents and speeding violations, Vance said.
The most alcohol-related crashes throughout the year in Danbury occur in December and January, according to Sgt. Rory DeRocco, of the Danbury traffic division.
“As the holidays approach, we see a lot more social interactions, hence more people consuming alcohol,” Vance said. “So we see a spike in alcohol-related incidents.”
State Police and the local departments joined forces to reduce drunken driving over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
In just four days, police issued 1,106 speeding tickets, 3,538 moving violations and 52 DUI arrests. There were 934 car accidents, 97 crashes with injuries and one fatality, according to State Police enforcement statistics. There were a substantially higher number of arrests, accidents and tickets than Thanksgiving 2013.
“This is everyone’s responsibility,” Vance said. “If anyone sees a drunk driver, that is a true emergency and they need to call 911.”
In addition to normal roving patrols, uniformed troopers will be driving unmarked cars to monitor traffic throughout the weekend. Police are also asking anyone who sees a suspected drunken driver to call 911.
“More people are celebrating this time of year,” DeRocco said. “We just want to make sure people are responsible when operating motor vehicles and keep the highways safe.”