Patrol officer's holiday season often is swamped with not-so-cheerful duties

The Thanksgiving holiday is a time when most families gather to enjoy each other's company, food, and memories. Unfortunately, it is quite a different time for law enforcement, especially highway patrol officers. Often troopers are called to assist motorists, and too often, law enforcement must deliver sad news to unlucky family members in the aftermath of a crash.

The following account was written anonymously by a trooper and included in the Patrol's archives. It describes the average day of a Patrol officer who works on Thanksgiving, making sure Ohio's roads are safe for those traveling to see loved ones for the holiday.

The Night Before Thanksgiving Day, Every Year

- The busiest traffic day of the year, followed by the Sunday after Thanksgiving!
- Probably won't be writing 7's (traffic citations) for anything less than 90 mph.
- Stop in a (interstate median) crossover, can't get out for 15-20 minutes.
- Handle a 37 (disabled vehicle) with a family from Indiana, going to Pittsburgh with $5 in their pocket.
- Stop for another 37, hear brakes squealing, look around and see a 5-10 car 31 (crash involving five to 10 cars).
- Not citing a carload of service kids, trying to get home for the holiday dinner.
- Miss Thanksgiving dinner, while mom, dad, wife, and kids are at the same time angry because you aren't there and worried because you're working.
- Handle a crash where a single parent, drunk, rolls his car and kills one of his twin sons while taking them back to mom. You get to carry the other kid up the stairs to mom's apartment and tell her the bad news.
- For the next 10 to 30 years, you will be able to fill in the rest of the page!

To contact OSHP Public Information Specialist Michele Vaughan, e-mail her at mrvaughan@dps.state.oh.us or call 614-387-1479.   wwwohp@dps.state.oh.us
Last modified on: November 06, 2009