Oklahoma Highway Patrol reminding Oklahomans of holiday travel safety

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - As we head into the holiday, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol wants to remind you of how to stay safe as your travel this weekend. 

AAA Oklahoma estimates nearly 1.1 million people across Oklahoma will travel 50 miles or more away from home from December 23rd to January 2^nd. 

AAA officials expect it to be the third busiest year for holiday travel since 2000. 

During the period of December 23^rd to the 26^th last year, resulted in a total of 297 crashes across the state. 

During that 78-hour reporting period for Christmas in 2021, seven of those crashes were fatal, resulting in eight deaths across Oklahoma.  

Four of those deaths occurred in alcohol or drug related crashes. 

Out of the almost 300 crashes reported last year, 31 were alcohol and or drug related, meaning over 10% of holiday crashes on Oklahoma roads involved a potentially impaired driver.  

The time period with the highest volume of crashes occurred on December 23^rd. 

Four of the seven fatal crashes occurred in the overnight hours between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

Oklahoma Highway Patrol will be out working the highways and ready to respond to any emergencies this weekend.