INDIANAPOLIS — As families prepare to hit the roadways for Thanksgiving, law enforcement across the state is stepping up their patrol to make sure everyone gets to their destination safely.
Indiana State Police says with more people on the roads, there's a greater potential for crashes. Many of them can be attributed to impaired drivers.
The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving has become known as "Blackout Wednesday" or "Drinksgiving." It's a big night for bars as people reconnect with friends from back home.
"Not too much the last couple years, I think the COVID hangover was still there, but it has been much busier this year. I think we’ll see a lot more action tonight, especially with the Pacers right next door this evening," Brent Drescher, with The District Tap, said.
Drescher says his staff works to make sure no one is overserved.
"We have a pretty responsible staff and they know when to say no, cut them off and curb them a little bit. We do our best not to overserve people," Drescher said.
ISP is reminding everyone to call a rideshare or friend if you don't think you can drive.
"I always tell people if you have to ask yourself if you’ve had too much to drive, the answers yes," ISP Sgt. John Perrine said.
Last Thanksgiving, ISP arrested 56 drunk drivers across the state.
"Naturally when there’s more traffic, there’s more crashes, but it seems like this time of year people get complacent on their driving," Perrine said. "They maybe lose attention or they choose to drive while intoxicated. We see a lot of that over the next few days. Certainly, poor decision making is what leads to a lot of these crashes."
