PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Officials in Pennsylvania are trying to decrease car crashes and fatalities during the holiday season through a special program.
PennDOT’s Operation Safe Holiday, which is part of their Click it or Ticket initiative, begins the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and runs through New Year’s. They say it’s intended to crack down on drivers impaired by drugs or alcohol.
PennDOT’s Cheryl Moon says in the 2022 holiday season there were 387 drug-related crashes, resulting in 44 deaths, and 287 suspected serious crashes. There were 1,111 alcohol-related crashes resulting in 41 fatalities and 661 suspected serious injuries.
And Moon says about 301 people died as a result of not buckling up.
“That’s 93% of people who could have been less injured if they had just put their seatbelts on,” Moon said.
Starting this week, Pennsylvania State Police is hosting child safety seat fitting clinics. A list of dates and locations can be found on their website.
“Combined efforts we’re talking about here are not about citations, they’re about saving lives,” Moon said.