Memorial Day weekend is one of high spirits and countless social gatherings. Many people are on the road with plenty on their minds, and during such times police are doubly alert toward traffic safety. The Pa. State Police recently released the numbers of traffic incidents statewide and regionally.

The PSP considers the holiday weekend May 26-29. During that four-day period, state troopers participated in about 32,000 enforcement indicents statewide, 757 of which were crashes they investigated. Bethlehem Troom M, which is based on Airport Road and covers Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks counties, accounted for about 1,600 of that total, out of which 44 were crashes. There were nine traffic fatalities statewide, one of which was investigated by Troop M.

Of the 550 DUI arrests made during the holiday weekend, 42 were by Troop M. This contrasts with the low of only four by Troop T, which covers the Turnpike, and 58 by Troop B, which covers the four counties in the southwestern corner of the state.

For speeding citations, Troop M made 428, while the lowest was 295 for Troop K (Philadelphia area) and the highest was 1,587 for Troop F (northcentral couties including Potter, Clinton and Northumberland).

City Traffic Lt. Ronald Brazinski provided local numbers upon request.

He said from May 26-29 Bethlehem officers investigated 23 traffic accidents and made five DUI arrests. Police issued 104 total citations and 45 warnings.

Even during a busy holiday weekend, given the city’s population of 75,000, that is only about one traffic incident for every 1,900 residents.