Longer holiday weekend means more traffic, more traffic enforcement on Colorado highways

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- While the four-day Independence Day holiday will provide many of us with time away from work, it'll be all hands on deck for the Colorado State ​​​​​​​Patrol.

Troopers will be conducting saturation patrols to look for impaired drivers who could put other drivers at risk.

Even though many people have already reached their destinations for the weekend, there will still be an increase in traffic overall.

Maybe those drivers will be rushing to beat the crowds at the lake, or in the mountains.

So, there will be more troopers on duty for the weekend, watching for drivers who are driving unsafely.

Troopers will work in pairs, doing their normal patrols but also watching for speeders, distracted drivers and other unsafe driving habits.

Violators will be pulled over and ticketed -- more so than on a normal day.

But Trooper Gabriel Moltrer said that with all of the additional holiday traffic, even safe drivers must be more alert.

"Just be prepared that if you're going anywhere, there may be a lot more traffic than there normally would be, especially on a Thursday," he explained. "Just be prepared for any type of traffic that may impact your travel. You may want to leave earlier during the day, just so that way you can make it on time or make it a little bit earlier. That way, you're also not feeling rushed."

July is a month of particular concern for troopers; last July, there were 91 traffic deaths in Colorado, with 24 of them involving a driver believed to have been impaired.

Often, the source of impairment is alcohol but it also can be smart phone usage, eating or even being distracted by passengers and pets in the vehicle.

The state patrol says that by cracking down on enforcement this weekend... They'll make the roads safer for everyone.

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