The summer season finale of Labor Day marks a time for plenty of fun, but it’s also one of Alabama’s most congested traffic weekends on roads as well as waterways.

Labor Day weekend, which runs from 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 31 to midnight Monday, Sept. 3, will find Troopers in the Highway Patrol and Marine Patrol Divisions stepping up patrol and enforcement efforts across the state to promote safety and work to prevent crashes, injuries and deaths. During the same period for Labor Day 2017, Troopers investigated three traffic fatalities and one drowning, according to information released by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Enforcement efforts include participation in the national campaign Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. Troopers and their law enforcement partners across the state will conduct sobriety checks and do everything they can to remove impaired individuals from behind the wheels of vehicles and boats (or other water vessels).

Grants administered through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) and the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) will fund overtime for additional Troopers during this initiative.

Alabama ranks fifth in the nation in fatalities due to impaired driving wrecks, according to a SafeWise’s report compiled from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

Alabama trailed only Montana, South Carolina, North Dakota, and New Mexico. Alabama had 6.6 fatalities per 100,000.

New York State, with 19 times the population of Montana, was the state with the fewest impaired driving fatalities, with 1.65 per 100,000.

The study found a connection between the use of ride-sharing services and and a decrease in DUIs and impaired driving crashes.

Alabama Troopers recommend the following precautions when driving in the state as the weekend approaches:

Avoid driving and/or boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If you plan on consuming alcohol pre-plan for a designated driver, call Uber or a cab. Designate a sober driver in advance to get you home safely.

• Obey the law.
• Slow down and obey the speed limits. Focus on driving by putting aside cell phones and other distractions.
• Buckle up, no matter how short your trip.
• Ensure all of the vehicle’s occupants are buckled up (or using a child restraint system) and those on your boat are using or have access to personal flotation device (PFDs are required at all times for ages 8 and younger.)
• Avoid the water during inclement weather, particularly when it includes thunder and lightning.
• Be cautious when traveling through construction zones.

For the safety of the traveling public ALDOT will have no temporary lane closures on Alabama interstates from noon Friday, Aug. 31, to midnight Monday, Sept. 3.