DPS adds more troopers on Phoenix freeways amid heavy holiday traffic

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - On holiday weekends like Labor Day, many people will be traveling to and from the High Country and across many other rural and suburban destinations.

For example, DPS says once a crash happens along I-17, the road can be closed for hours, leaving people stranded on the interstate with no other way to get back to the Valley.

This latest effort of adding extra troopers on the roads to help prevent crashes. Studies have shown that when people see a trooper on the road, people do tend to slow down, put away their phones, and pay attention to their driving, the agency said. In particular, they look for speeding, driving under the influence and a common crash culprit: bad lane changes.

“A lot of those collisions are caused by bad lane changes. People not paying attention to who is next to them and just changing lanes. That causes crashes. That leads to chain-reaction crashes in a lot of places and it stops traffic in its tracks. Nobody can go anywhere. So we are going to be looking closely at driver behavior, making sure people are changing lanes safely and not speeding,” said Bart Graves, a spokesperson for DPS.

Law enforcement agencies say if you see something say something. If you suspect a driver on the road is driving impaired you can call and they’ll send a trooper or police to investigate.

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