Heavy traffic expected this Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest weekends of the year for traffic in the Florida Keys and this year will be no exception. That is the assessment of the Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement Unit, which will be out in force this holiday weekend to make sure people are driving safely.

All Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement Deputies as well as an influx of additional Deputies will be assigned to work the entire holiday weekend and will work county-wide to supplement Road Patrol Deputies, particularly on U.S. 1. The influx of visitors is expected to cause traffic slowdowns, particularly southbound in the Upper Keys, on Friday; many of those same visitors will leave on Monday and cause slowdowns in the opposite direction on that day. Anyone planning to be on the road over the weekend should plan extra time accordingly.

In particular, Deputies will be looking for people passing in no-passing zones, passing illegally in turn lanes, traveling at unsafe speeds and drinking and driving.

On the water, all Sheriff’s Office Marine Deputies will keep an eye out for unsafe boating practices, particularly drunk boating; many people head offshore to have a good time, but boaters should make sure to designate someone sober to bring the vessel and its passengers back to shore safely.

As a side note: today, May 23, marks the start of the nationwide Click it or Ticket campaign that Sheriff’s Office Deputies will be participating in. The nationwide effort runs through June 5. Deputies will concentrate their attention on people driving with no seatbelts during that time period.

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