AMERICUS — The Thanksgiving holiday is typically one of the busiest travel periods of the year. The holiday travel period is 102 hours long. It begins at 6 p.m. today, Nov. 25, and ends at midnight on Sunday, Nov. 29.
During this period, Georgia State Troopers will be conducting concentrated patrols and road checks throughout the state, strictly enforcing seat belt laws and watching for impaired drivers.
“Each year, troopers work numerous crashes that could have been prevented, if drivers had made safety a priority,” said Col.  Mark W. McDonough, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety.
Last year during a similar 102-hour travel period, troopers investigated 676 traffic crashes that resulted in 288 injuries and 15 fatalities during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period.
“Make sure everyone is wearing a seatbelt and that children are properly restrained. Don’t text and drive, obey the posted speed limit, and don’t drive impaired,” said the commissioner.
In addition to investigating traffic crashes last year, the Georgia State Patrol issued approximately 7,000 citations; 12,000 warnings; and made 264 arrests for driving under the influence.
“Driving impaired is a serious crime, and it is not worth the risk of killing or seriously injuring yourself or someone else,”  McDonough said. “If you are caught driving impaired, you will be arrested,” he added.
The Georgia State Patrol will also be teaming up with law enforcement officials from across the state in Operation Click It or Ticket, Georgia’s high visibility seat belt enforcement program and Operation C.A.R.E., or Combined Accident Reduction Effort. Operation C.A.R.E. is a nationwide traffic safety initiative among state highway patrols and state police agencies where troopers and officers across the United States and Canada work together during holiday periods to reduce the number of traffic deaths through high visibility patrols and education.