‘Everybody’s responsibility’: Highway patrol emphasizing safety on I-29 this weekend

By Ashley Luthans

The Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H will be conducting a Hazardous Moving Violations Operations on Saturday, ensuring drivers on Interstate 29 are staying safe behind the wheel. 

The operation will take place from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. and will encompass all of Troop H’s counties along I-29: Buchanan, Andrew, Holt and Atchison.

Sgt. Shane Hux with the Missouri State Highway Patrol explained that the officers involved in the operation are doing so out of their own free time.

“We have four officers assigned to this specific operation,” Hux said. “It’s an overtime operation, so they’re coming in on their day off and they’re gonna be assigned totally to Interstate 29 within those four counties.”

The emphasis of the operation is to focus on excessive speed, distracted and impaired drivers and unrestrained occupants.

Hux shared that the purpose of the operation is to keep people safe.

“The goal is to promote highway traffic safety, to reduce serious injury crashes and to reduce fatality crashes,” Hux said. “That’s the goal of this operation. So troopers are gonna be out there enforcing hazardous moving violations: excessive speed, improper lane usage, impaired driving. And then also, the patrol’s zero tolerance on restraint violations. So if the driver, front-seat passenger and also child restraint violations.”

Hux emphasized the importance of driving safely.

“Highway patrol cannot do it by ourselves,” Hux said. “Traffic safety is everybody’s responsibility. Every time you get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, not only is your life in your hands, but everybody inside your vehicle and every other motorist out there on the roadway.”