Georgia State Patrol preparing for heavy traffic over Memorial Day weekend

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - We’re just a few days from the Memorial Day weekend.

Georgia State troopers and other law enforcement say they’ll be out in force to keep you and others safe.

Troopers anticipate holiday travel to start ramping up on Friday. They urge you to be safe so you can get where you’re trying to go.

Memorial Day can be one of the busiest holidays of the year. It marks the unofficial beginning of summer.

According to AAA, 1.3 million Georgians will travel more than 50 miles over the three days weekend. That’s more than last year, and even more than before the pandemic.

Sgt. Richard Sikes of the Georgia State Patrol says they’ll be checking the main and the back roads.

“We’ll have heavy enforcement on the interstates, because that’s where a lot of people generally go. But we’ll also be in the cities and counties,” said Sgt. Richard Sikes.

He says Friday traffic often includes people speeding to their destination and others who’ve already started drinking. He says they’ll be looking for drunk drivers, and more.

“So we look for the usuals - seat belts, texting while driving. But also distracted driving with anything. We want everybody to be safe.”

He says give yourself enough time to get where you’re going without speeding. And don’t try to drive home if you’ve been drinking, whether it’s a long distance or just across town.

He says they’ll have every available trooper on the roads statewide through late Monday night.

The Savannah Hilton Head International Airport is also saying you should arrive two to three hours early for your flight.

They also are reminding passengers to check with airlines for the most up-to-date flight information, make arrangements for getting picked up ahead of time, and use the cell phone lot to wait for passengers to arrive.

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