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Troopers Watching Over Holiday Travelers In Bay Area

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

TAMPA - By air and by land, Florida Highway Patrol troopers will be looking for errant drivers this Thanksgiving holiday.

In the Tampa Bay area, patrol aircraft will be monitoring busy roadways for inappropriate driving, said patrol spokesman Larry Coggins. Among them are interstates 75, 275 and 4, as well as the Polk Parkway, the Suncoast Parkway, and the Bay area's bridges. Meantime, troopers on motorcycles or in unmarked cars will be on the lookout roadside.

The statewide detail began just after midnight today and will continue through midnight Sunday.

"The increased presence of our troopers during holiday periods is of immeasurable benefit to the motoring public," Lt. Colonel Czernis, the interim director for the patrol, said in a statement.

The patrol is cautioning people against driving while drunk or tired. Troopers will be on the look-out for drunken drivers, along with those who are speeding, driving aggressively, or not abiding by seat belt laws.

During last year's Thanksgiving holiday period, 48 people were killed in 45 crashes in the state. More than half of those who were killed in vehicles equipped with seat belts were not using them, and 42 percent of the deaths were alcohol-related.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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