State Police: 100 Extra Troopers on the Roads in Southeastern Mass. This Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend, "Operation Blue Lights" will be back in effect in southeastern Massachusetts, State Police announced Thursday.

According to WPRO News, "State Police will deploy 100 additional troopers across Southeastern Massachusetts over the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. It is an effort to curb accidents and fatalities, and to enforce traffic laws, said Major Anthony Thomas, Commander of Troop D, which patrols all of Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands."

The emphasis on Routes 24 and 195 began last summer after a string of fatal accidents on Route 24, including the dealth of Norton 12-year-old Angel Pina in Stoughton and Mansfield teenager Lisa Banat in West Bridgewater.

Last year during the summer surge, 90 OUI arrests were made during the hours between 10 p.m.  and 4 a.m. on weekend nights. One in every 32 vehicles stopped resulted in a drunk driving arrest. Of the 90 arrests, 74 were first-time offenders, 10 were 2nd time offenders and seven were third time offenders or greater.

The surge also resulted in over 1,400 speeding tickets and over 300 seat belt violations.

According to WPRO, only one fatal accident (this past Tuesday in Brockton) occurred on Routes 24 and 195 since the campaign began last summer.