LUMBERTON — Travelers may see more State Highway Patrol troopers on the highways starting Monday, as they crack down on impaired driving during a holiday Booze It & Lose It campaign.

The effort is a collaboration between the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program and traffic safety officials to keep motorists and pedestrians safe during the holiday.

“Officers will be out conducting increased patrols all around our state Oct. 26-Nov. 1 to identify and remove impaired drivers from our roads during the annual Halloween ‘Booze It & Lose It’ campaign,” said Mark Ezzell, NCGHSP director.

State troopers in Robeson County will be on high alert during the campaign, 1st Sgt. S.B. Lewis said.

“We do generally participate in these activities each year, and they do coincide with major holidays or times that may produce large gatherings or events,” he said.

The goal of the campaign is simple, according to the first sergeant.

“Ultimately with any of our enforcement activities it is our goal to gain willful compliance of the law. During certain time of the year Governor’s Highway Safety Program identifies times that you may see increased amounts of travel,” Lewis said.

“It is during these times that we place a special emphasis on having the maximum possible number of Troopers on the road. The idea is, in part, to become visible on such a high level that the willful compliance of the law is increased,” he added.

Nationwide, 36,560 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2018, with 29% of the fatalities resulting from crashes during which a driver had a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit, according to the NCGHSP.

“Of the 1,442 fatalities on North Carolina roadways in 2018, 411 of those involved an impaired driver,” said Sarah Searcy, Bicycle & Pedestrian manager at the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at N.C. State University.

Officials at the NCGHSP offered the following tips for driver:

— If you have ingested any impairing substance: alcohol, pills, marijuana or something else, do not drive!

— If you know someone who is impaired, don’t let them get behind the wheel.

— If you see an impaired driver, call 911.

— Always wear your seat belt, it’s your best defense against impaired drivers.