All was quiet for the most part on state and federal highways and interstate roadways in Mississippi over the Christmas holiday, with the Mississippi Highway Patrol reporting no fatalities during the enforcement period.
Troop G, which covers Calhoun, Choctaw, Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee, Monroe, Oktibbeha , Webster and Winston counties, reported 332 total citations for the period running from Friday, Dec. 22 to Monday, Dec.25.
Of those citations by Troop G, 188 were classified as hazardous; 107 non-hazardous; seven DUI arrests; zero drug arrests and zero felony arrests.
Also, Troop G reported zero public drunk arrests, 61 seat belt citations and seven child restraint citations.
Mississippi Highway Patrol reported 3,916 total citations given over the enforcement period.
Troop G also reported 11 total collisions with four injuries total over the holiday. One of the collisions was alcohol related.
Statewide, 157 collisions were reported, with 40 total injuries and no fatalities.
Captain Johnny Poulos, director of the MHP Public Affairs division, credited a new approach taken by Highway Patrol during the Christmas season.
“Everyone knows we always try to tell people we are going to be out doing enforcement activities and have checkpoints,” Poulos said. “The different approach
is we wanted everyone to arrive to their destination. That’s where the safety initiative came in.”˚
MHP in 2017 pushed its “Making It Home For The Holidays” safety campaign, which stressed getting to your holiday destination safely.
“Our main goal is for everyone to arrive to their destination in a safe manner and it looks like we were very successful in getting that point across and hopefully that will continue through the New Years holiday,” he said.
The “Making It Home For The Holidays” initiative will run through the end of the year across the state.