RALEIGH, NC (December 19, 2020) — With the holiday season in full swing, the State Highway Patrol will be looking to curb the unexpected increase in fatal collisions experienced in 2020. The anticipated increase in vehicle traffic over the coming weeks will require all across North Carolina to practice safe driving habits on our state’s roadways.
Prior to deciding whether or not to travel, the SHP strongly encourages the public to visit the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) website to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Best practices during the holiday season and information on our state’s current response to the coronavirus can be found on the DHHS website here: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/
Last year, troopers responded to 2,970 collisions between the dates of Dec. 24 through Jan. 2. Among those collisions, 745 were injury related and 27 resulted in a fatality. This year, the SHP hopes to decrease the number of collisions during the same time frame by focusing on violations such as excessive speeding, reckless driving, following too close and impaired driving.
“This time of year brings about so much joy for many living in our great state,” said Colonel Glenn McNeill Jr., commander of the State Highway Patrol. “We must pause though, and recognize that there are others who feel grief from a lost loved one due to a traffic collision and this fact drives our agency to work even harder to stop these needless occurrences from taking place.”
Among our enforcement efforts is the ongoing 2020 Holiday Booze It & Lose It Campaign running from Monday, December 14, 2020 through Sunday, January 3, 2021. This important enforcement campaign organized by the Governors Highway Safety Program brings together law enforcement partners from across our state. For educational efforts, the Patrol has taken to a lighthearted approach to sharing safe holiday driving tips with the release of a Christmas PSA.