The Arizona Department of Public Safety (ADPS), along with other state police and highway patrol agencies nationwide, have been tasked to succeed with a zero-fatality and zero-injury collision initiative.
The initiative will be conducted during the holiday travel period between today and Sunday November 29.
The I-40 challenge, which has been named “Drive Toward Zero Fatalities,” was issued in part by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security to seven other state police or highway patrol agencies, including DPS, that regularly patrol along I-40. As part of this challenge, ADPS Highway Patrol units will increase patrols along the I-40 corridor over two, 12-hour periods on Wednesday Nov. 25 and Sunday Nov. 29, which are the busiest travel days during the Thanksgiving period.
In 2014, over the same holiday weekend in Arizona, there was only five reported collisions, and zero deaths related to collisions.
The ADPS Highway Patrol Division, in conjunction with other statewide emergency responders and the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), are prepared to implement the traffic safety initiative along Arizona’s highways.
During the dates mentioned above, ADPS will maintain increased visibility on highways throughout Arizona through added patrols targeting unsafe drivers, by focusing on violations related to seatbelt usage, speed, impairment and overall dangerous driving behaviors.
ADPS Highway Patrol units will also increase traffic enforcement operations along Arizona’s highways statewide as the amount of drivers on the road and travel increases over the holiday weekend.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety encourages travelers to carefully prepare for their trips by carrying water, appropriate supplies, obtaining sufficient rest, conducting a pre-trip vehicle inspection and, most importantly, driving with due regard for fellow travelers while carefully observing all traffic laws.