WABASH VALLEY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– Indiana State Police will have extra patrols for the holiday weekend to help combat increased traffic. 

According to AAA, nearly 40 million people are expected to hit the road to celebrate Memorial Day.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Matt Ames said they expect an influx of drivers– especially with the Indy 500 this weekend– and said Memorial Day typically brings thousands of accidents across the state.

While none have been fatal in the Putnamville district, he said there had been several deaths around Indiana so far. 

“[In 2022,] unfortunately, we worked 2,024 crashes, We had 146 injuries, and we worked 14 fatal accidents in the course of that weekend,” he said. “We’d really like to get that number down to zero, unfortunately we’ve already had a couple of fatal accidents this weekend, but we’re going to continue to have extra patrols out.”

The extra patrols are funded on a federal level, and will run through Monday morning. Ames reminded drivers to follow speed limits, not to drive aggressively and to use the left lane only when they are passing. 

“A lot of times we receive 911 calls about semi drivers who are hanging out there, one’s running 66 [mph] and the other one is running 66.5 [mph] and it takes them several miles to get passed that semi,” he said.