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Connecticut State Police stepping up patrols amid Fourth of July weekend

According to AAA, they expect up to 2.7 million New Englanders to travel for this weekend, most of them by car.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Traffic is expected to start ramping up Thursday afternoon as many drivers hit the road for the Fourth of July weekend.

Connecticut State Police will also be out patrolling the highways to enforce traffic laws.

According to AAA, one of the worst times to travel starts today from 2 to 8 p.m., and almost 2.7 million New Englanders will travel this holiday weekend.

Inflation and rising gas prices are not preventing people from getting out of their homes.

RELATED: All eyes on airlines as July Fourth holiday weekend nears

“With all of the travel pent-up energy, with those who have canceled travel plans over the last two years, they are not letting anything get in the way this year,” said Tracy Noble, spokesperson for the AAA Greater Hartford.

The most popular form of transportation is by car with up to 2.4 million people choosing that option.

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179,000 will be traveling by plane and 105,000 will be using other modes of transportation.

“With all the delays that we’ve seen and the cancellations, with air travel over the last few weeks, your car is your most reliable source,” added Noble.

RELATED: Weekend happenings around Connecticut | Fourth of July Weekend

Connecticut State Police will also be out patrolling and some will be in unidentified vehicles.

“We are upping our patrols within the state. We have some DUI checkpoints that are going to be happening this weekend,” said Sgt. Christine Jeltema of Connecticut State Police.

FOX61 participated in a ride-along with Trooper Jason Soto who showed us what law enforcement will be looking for this weekend, especially for DUIs.

“As we’re trying, we try to observe cars that are going extremely slow on the highway, cars that go extremely fast, or someone who can’t maintain his lane and swerve in and out of his lane,” said Trooper Jason Soto of the Connecticut State Police Troop H.

RELATED: No, the Fourth of July hasn’t always been a holiday

One of the most common offenses is speeding.

“We have a lot of people that drive fast and then we have people who switch lanes and don’t use their turn signals and distracted driving with people on their phones,” added Trooper Soto.

Trooper Soto said many times, that they will pull drivers over not necessarily to give out tickets but to teach them a verbal lesson.

To prevent yourself from having to speed, always leave earlier if you can to beat the traffic, and most importantly, be patient and respectful since everyone has to get somewhere as well.

Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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