(Radio Iowa) – The Independence Day holiday is going to be a long one with the 4th falling on Thursday, and that could mean a lot more celebrating across the state. State Patrol Trooper Paul Gardner says they don’t want the celebration to spill over to the highways. “July 4th, there’s gonna be a lot of celebrations and we want to make sure that everyone is partying responsibly,” he says, “and if those parties do involve alcoholic beverages that need to just make sure that they’re going to be having designated drivers to get everyone home safe.” He says a special holiday enforcement effort will start on Wednesday.

“And that’s really going to focus on O-W-I enforcement so we’ll have extra troopers on the roads we’ll be working with our local law enforcement agencies as well,” Gardner says. Gardner says alcohol and driving can be fatal for you and others.  “Last year in 2023, statewide we had 377 traffic fatalities and we were at a five year high and we’ve seen a reduction in that so far this year, but last year’s total also included 38 percent of those that were killed in traffic crashes were involving drunk drivers,” Gardner says.

The special holiday traffic enforcement will run through Sunday July 7th.