With the holiday season comes holiday travel.
For local police, that travel means stepping up enforcement to help ensure people arrive safely.
Youngsville Police Chief Todd Mineweaser is conducting enforcement and education programs.
"It's the holiday season," Mineweaser said. "We're stepping up enforcement for aggressive driving and PA Buckle Up."
"A lot more motorists are going to be on the road with the holidays," he said. "We're going to be out and about in full force."
PennDOT, through the Drive Safe PA program, pays for overtime used to increase enforcement during particular times of year. The current event is the "Operation Safe Holiday seat belt mobilization."
Mineweaser said he will set up a safety checkpoint in Youngsville for three hours on Wednesday afternoon.
Motorists will be stopped and asked for their identification and officers will check to see if their seat belts are fastened.
Several local signs show support for Mineweaser's efforts.
Signs at Youngsville High School, Warren County Christian School, and Dairy Queen show messages related to safe driving. The borough office sign also displays that message. Other businesses were approached but did not have the information on signs on Monday.
"I appreciate the Christian school, the school district, and all the businesses helping out," Mineweaser said.
The borough gets a percentage of fines, but the enforcement campaign is not about the money.
"It's not about taking money out of people's pockets, it's about saving lives," he said. "Who knows how many lives we'll save?"
The Pennsylvania Aggressive Driving Enforcement and Education Program offers several "Tips for a Ticket-Free Holiday Season" - slow down; watch out for the weather; keep a handle on careless driving; keep your eyes on the road; pass on the holiday cheer (and pass the keys if you've been drinking); and buckle up.
Drive Safe PA is Pennsylvania over arching safe driving campaign.
They're all PennDOT funded programs.
They're whole goal is to reduce fatalities
November and December are two of our highest crash months.
