RACINE, Wis. — The Wisconsin State Patrol increases patrols during the holiday season as more drivers are hitting the roadways.
On New Year’s Eve, troopers are looking for impaired drivers, in hopes of keeping the roadways safe for drivers as they ring in the new year.
Back in 2022, Wisconsin prosecutors convicted more than 23,000 people for operating while under the influence. That is due in large part thanks to the work from state patrol troopers.
Wisconsin State Patrol Trooper, Richard Callus, said it is a busy time of year. More people are out on the roadways throughout the holiday season, which means he and other troopers are remaining vigilant for violations on the roadways.
From January to mid-December of 2023, there were around 6,000 crashes, 188 deaths, and a little more than 3,000 injuries from impaired driving-related crashes on Wisconsin’s roads, according to the Department of Transportation.
Trooper Callus said impaired driving is a common occurrence in the state.
“We are going to have thousands of cars go past us,” Trooper Callus said. “There will be drivers that we will find today that are impaired and that is our priority.”
He said they are looking for things like driving behaviors such as improper lane usage, not using proper signals and not following the laws of the road.
Trooper Callus said his goal is to keep the roadways as safe as possible as many people are going from point A to point B, to see family and friends this time of year.
“If we can reduce the death and destruction on the road, that is the most important thing.” He said.