Eating, drinking, and driving? Pa State Police will be watching

If you are hitting the road this Thanksgiving holiday, just know that the Pennsylvania State Police plan to be there too.

Officials Saturday announced stepped-up highway enforcement for the period from Wednesday through Sunday.

"Around every holiday we receive extra state money for this purpose," said State Police Cpl. Gerry McShea.

Officers will be monitoring speeding, impaired driving, and failure to comply with seat-belt laws.

According to McShea, some officers will be stationed on a speeding-only detail to discourage drivers from using excessive speed on their holiday trips.

This initiative follows the 2011 holiday period, when officers responded to 122 vehicular accidents, including eight alcohol-related and two fatalities. During that same five-day stretch, police made 28 arrests for driving under the influence and issued 1,358 citations.

McShea said the police activity surpassed what occurs in a normal week.

"People drink a little bit more over the holidays, and you can see that fatal accidents occur rather steadily around this time in the area and statewide," said McShea.

As a result, state police will be setting up DUI checkpoints across major areas of traffic during this period, McShea said.