MHP prepares to enhance safety over the 4th of July travel period
MISSISSIPPI (WCBI) – The 4th of July weekend is almost here, and the Mississippi Highway Patrol is getting ready.
The travel period begins at midnight on July 3 and lasts until midnight on July 6.
As people are traveling for the holiday, MHP will be fanning out across the state with strategic checkpoints to enhance safety.
Carson Latham and Mia Whited are planning to travel to Dallas.
A new state law went into effect on July 1st, raising Mississippi’s gas tax by 3 cents a gallon.
But the rise in prices is not putting a stop to their vacation plans.
“For now, we’re just going to stick on the road and then hopefully we’ll be fine with gas,” Whited said.
“Gas prices haven’t gone up too bad for me,” Latham said. “So it’s not really affecting me. I mean, we’re still going to travel. You’re going to have to pay for gas anyway. We have the whole month of July to travel. So this is the start of it, and I don’t think we’re changing anything for that.”
Staff Sergeant Derrick Beckom with the Mississippi Highway Patrol says he expects a lot of people to be on the roads this weekend, and they will be out enforcing the laws.
“The 4th of July is that holiday where everybody’s traveling in and out of the state,” Beckom said. “So we’re anticipating a lot of people coming in and going out of the state. ”
Beckom said car accidents can happen for many reasons, but often they are a result of distracted driving, driving under the influence, or people just being in a hurry.
“We just encourage everybody to slow down and pay attention to their driving,” Beckom said. “Not wearing your seatbelt, you know, you want to give yourself the best opportunity to survive in the event that you are in a crash. So, you know, the first thing you need to do is buckle up and then kind of take care of the other things of not speeding, not being distracted, not being under the influence. It takes everybody to do their part in this.”
Beckom said if you’re hitting the road for the holiday, make sure you prepare.
“Give yourself plenty of time because we want this to be the safest and happiest 4th of July we’ve ever had in the state of Mississippi,” Beckom said. “So if we don’t increase on the citations and things like that, and can get that zero fatality, then we feel like we really won.”
Beckom said from 2023 to 2024, the Mississippi Highway Patrol saw an increase in accidents on holiday weekends, along with 4 fatalities, which he says were 4 too many.
