By Staff
Staff Reports, Hartselle Enquirer
If you go speeding through a construction zone this Labor Day weekend, you could find yourself on the wrong end of the Alabama State Troopers radar gun.
State troopers will be dressed as construction workers and utilizing new laser speed detection devices to catch speeders. The work is part of "Operation Hardhat," a new construction zone enforcement program.
The work is just part of the effort to reduce traffic accidents over the Labor Day weekend. The Department of Public Safety estimates that 12 people may die as a result of traffic crashes in Alabama during the 78-hour Labor Day holiday travel period. The travel period begins Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. and ends midnight on Sept. 1.
In addition to Operation Hardhat, troopers will conduct line patrols, saturation details, checkpoints and aerial speed enforcement as part of their statewide Labor Day weekend traffic safety plan, according to Col. W.M. Coppage, Department of Public Safety director.
"Troopers will be working to protect the safety of holiday travelers," Coppage said. "Motorists are urged to join in this safety effort by driving defensively, obeying speed limits and all other traffic laws, and buckling up on every trip."
All available troopers will be on duty, thanks to selective traffic enforcement grants that will find the additional patrol effort. In addition to targeting speed limit violators, troopers will be watchful for drunken and other dangerous drivers.
Last year, 12 traffic deaths occurred during the 78-hour period, 10 on rural roads and two in urban areas. At least six of the deaths were alcohol related, and six of the crash victims were not using safety restraints.