Troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Water Patrol will be out in force over this upcoming holiday weekend. Colonel J. Bret Johnson says the patrols are participating in
Operation CARE…or Combined Accident Reduction Effort…which will station troopers to 20-mile intervals along Interstates 29, 44, 55, and 70, and Highways 60 and 61. Colonel Johnson also says, over the
same weekend last year, eight people were killed and more than 400 injured in 969 traffic crashes while 105 people, statewide, were arrested for drunk driving. On the waterways last Memorial Day weekend,
there were no drownings reported but there were eight boating crashes which included one injury and 15 people arrested for boating while intoxicated. Speed, inattention and being impaired are the leading
causes of accidents on Missouri roadways and waterways. The official counting period for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend begins at 6:00 Friday night and comes to an end at 11:59 Monday night.