Wyoming, Natrona County Report No Fatalities Over Memorial Day Weekend
In a small bright spot in an otherwise tragic year for Wyoming highway deaths, no one died in crashes over the recent Memorial Day weekend locally or statewide according to local and state authorities.
In Natrona County, law enforcement agencies stopped 421 vehicles. Those stops resulted in six drunk-driving arrests; citations for seat belt violations, speeding and other issues; and 99 warnings.
This marked the third year of the enforcement effort.
The Memorial Day weekend operation was the fourth of at least six planned operations in the county this year.
The agencies have scheduled the next operation for the Fourth of July holiday.
In Natrona County, the operations intend to reduce fatal crashes through the enforcement of impaired driving and seat belt laws. Besides the enforcement itself, agencies will educate the public about their zero-tolerance stance on impaired driving and using seat belts.
The agencies involved locally were the Wyoming Highway Patrol, the Natrona County Sheriff's Office, and the Casper, Mills and Evansville police departments.
So far this year, Wyoming has witnesses an unusually high number of highway fatalities, with 64 so far, with 43% of them attributable to failure to wear seat belts, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
This number compares with 40 in 2018, 46 in 2017, 25 in 2016, 53 in 2015, and 53 in 2014.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol urges drivers to call the Report Every Drunk Driver Immediately [REDDI hotline at 1-800-442-9090 to report suspected drunk drivers. Callers should be prepared to provide the dispatcher with a description of the vehicle, its location, and direction of travel.