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LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (WAFB) - According to AAA, 71 million people were expected to travel this Fourth of July weekend. This is a record-breaking number, and officials say this could be the new trend for other major holidays. This is something they say you should be prepared for.

“The summer months are the deadliest month of the year. What I can say about Louisiana is May and August are two of our deadliest months,” said Greg Ficher, The Public Information Officer for the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.

With 60 million of those travelers being drivers, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission says the roads are more dangerous.

Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard says they definitely noticed the increase.

“Looking at our stats, I didn’t look at last year, but just looking at these stats, I can tell you our numbers are up,” said Livingston Parish Sheriff, Jason Ard.

In preparation for this busy weekend, the LHSC partnered with local law enforcement as part of their ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ campaign, and they set up DWI checkpoints throughout the state.

“We know people are going to drink more during these holidays. Could be because it’s hot outside, but we also work with our highway safety, that group give us grants to do DWI checkpoints,” explained Ard.

In Livingston, they had 17 DWI checks, five of those were arrested, along with seven open container violations and four narcotics arrests.

“We want to make sure that Livingston Parish, along with Louisiana, that our highways are safe and we all know that over the holidays this is what can happen,” added Ard.

Sheriff Ard says they’ve had 52 accidents in the last few days as well. They are reminding people to not only drive sober but follow basic car safety rules at all times too.

“The best thing anyone can do for themselves when riding or driving a vehicle is wearing their seatbelt, putting your cell phone down, making sure you’re riding hands-free and free of distraction,” explained Fischer.

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