For many people, summer really kicks into high gear with Memorial Day weekend. Family outings, trips to nearby lakes and rivers with friends, and other recreational activities fill the long weekend for many in the St. Charles area.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol urges everyone to take a moment to think about ways to make the holiday safe as well as enjoyable, so that fewer of us will be involved in car accidents that cause injuries or fatalities.

One way to make safety a priority is to check an online map of your holiday travel routes to see if there will be construction along the way. If there is, please factor in extra travel time.

If alcohol is to be part of your holiday festivities, troopers ask that you designate a sober driver and insist that everyone abstain from driving after drinking. Please note that the same level of caution about drinking applies to boating as it does to driving a car.

The Highway Patrol will be part of Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) over the three-day weekend. It means all available troopers will be out on our state’s roads enforcing traffic laws and helping any motorists in need.

Please note, too, that troopers are going to place an extra emphasis on enforcement of aggressive driving laws in 20-mile sections of Interstates 70, 55, 44 and 35, as well as on U.S. Highwaays 60 and 63 on Friday, May 24 and Monday, May 27.

Those officers will be looking for all driving offenses, but will especially be aware of aggressive driving by motorists.

Over last year’s Memorial Day weekend, nine people died in Missouri car crases and another 355 were injured in nearly 1,000 motor vehicle accidents.

Anyone injured in a crash caused by another driver’s recklessness or negligence should speak with an attorney about compensation options.

Source: Daily Journal Online, “Safety tips for Memorial Day weekend,” May 16, 2013