RACINE, Wis. — This Memorial Day weekend, the Wisconsin State Patrol expects the roads to be busy with travelers.

AAA reported 4.3 million people are expected to travel over the holiday weekend. That’s 2.7 million more than 2022. AAA said 87.6% of travel will be by car.

Trooper Richard Callous said more patrols will be out to monitor the highways.

“We’re asking people to leave plenty of time before they travel,” said Callous. “Leave extra space while driving. Wear your seatbelt at all times. Any distractions are out of the way like cell phones. Keep them out of sight out of mind until you get where you’re going.”

He said if you plan to drink, have a designated driver.

“If you do drive impaired there’s officers out looking and hopefully will be out detecting those violations to keeping people safe,” said Callous.

He said it’s not worth the trouble to get behind the wheel impaired.

“The legal aspect is usually severe,” said Callous. “The consequences are with penalties, fines and possible jail for OWI second and above. I also kind of consider the human factor. A death on the road is devastation to a family. It could be my love one or your loved one involved. Anything to do do reduce a death on the road is important.”

He recommended checking 511 before traveling to get the latest traffic conditions.