Sheriff to step up I-70 patrols June 25-26
The Boone County Sheriff's Department will be stepping up enforcement on Interstate 70 weekend as part of a statewide effort to crack down on aggressive or impaired driving.
According to a press release on the department's website, more deputies will be patrolling I-70 between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday as part of the summer-long Heat Is On campaign. The campaign is named that because the Missouri State Highway Patrol anticipates an increase in the number of drivers on the road for vacations and holidays during the summer months. The state-wide campaign began Monday and will last until Sept. 21.
According to a press release on the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety's website, Missouri has recorded the highest number of fatal and serious injury crashes between July and September each of the last four years. In summer 2009, 239 people were killed and 1,847 were seriously injured.
“Our goal is to lower fatalities to 850 or fewer by 2012," Leanna Depue, chair of the executive committee of the MCRS, said in the release. "In order to do that we must prevent the spike in fatalities between July and September.”