New Hampshire adding extra ‘saturation patrols’ for 5-day Thanksgiving holiday period

NH State Police "saturation patrols" will be on duty over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Photo/NH State Police

MANCHESTER, NH - State police from New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts held a news conference along Interstate 95 Tuesday morning to let holiday revelers know that they are adding extra patrols to keep an eye out for impaired drivers over the Thanksgiving holiday. Representatives of law enforcement agencies from the three states gathered at the Seabrook northbound rest area on Interstate 95 to announce the initiative, part of a nationwide crackdown on impaired driving over Thanksgiving holiday.

Of particular concern is Wednesday night, when people gather to party with friends, to the point where it's often referred to as Drinksgiving or Blackout Wednesday, officials said. Additional patrols begin Wednesday and will continue until Sunday night, with officers keeping an eye out for impaired, distracted and dangerous driving, law enforcement officials said. Law enforcement officials said that impaired driving accidents can be prevented, and urged people to plan ahead and use a designated driver.

Rochester resident Karen Bowen, whose mother and aunt died in an accident involving an impaired driver, also spoke. "You can no longer think of it as an accident, knowing that in impaired driving, you have a choice to get behind the wheel or not," Bowen said as a line of law enforcement officers stood at attention behind her. "This is not an accident." Tuesday's news conference included representatives from the New Hampshire Department of Safety, New Hampshire State Police, Massachusetts State Police, Maine State Police and Seabrook Police Department, among others.

Thanksgiving is one of the most fatal holidays on the roads, according to National Highway Transportation Safety Administration[1] figures. Nationwide, 515 people died over the four-day holiday period - Wednesday through Saturday - in 2020, according to the NHSTA's most recent statistics update. The only other holiday with more fatalities that year was Labor Day Weekend, with 530 fatal accidents over the three-day holiday, of which 38% were alcohol-related, according to the NHTSA.

Last year, there were 146 fatal accidents in New Hampshire, though the breakdown of how many involved alcohol isn't yet available. Added to New Hampshire's driving risks is the fact that it's the only state in the United States without a seat belt law for motor vehicle occupants over the age of 18. Of the 146 people who died in car accidents in the state in 2022, 56 were known to not have been wearing a seatbelt.[2]

New Hampshire officials at the news conference said that while it's not the law, New Hampshire drivers and their passengers should buckle up when they hit the roads.

The most common cause of fatal accidents is speeding, closely followed by alcohol impairment, according to the NHTSA.

But the organization said that the two overlap, with dangerous practices like speeding, crossing into the wrong lane, driving through red lights and stop signs, often related to blood-alcohol content.

References

1. ^ National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.gov)
2. ^ the only state in the United States without a seat belt law (manchesterinklink.com)