After a spike in fatal crashes, NH announces 'zero tolerance' on I-95

After a spike in fatal crashes, NH announces ‘zero tolerance’ on I-95

From Seabrook to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a “zero tolerance zone” will be enforced by the New Hampshire State Police along the Interstate 95 corridor this holiday season. The initiative is part of a state directive to reduce unsafe, distracted and impaired driving after a recent uptick serious and sometimes fatal accidents.

All drivers stopped on I-95 in the Seacoast this holiday season, regardless of the reason for the stop, will receive a ticket as part of the New Hampshire state campaign Gov. Chris Sununu announced Tuesday in Concord, New Hampshire.

The state’s zero-tolerance policy on local stretches of highway during the holidays anticipates Thanksgiving. Enforcement actions and increased state police patrols were expected to begin Wednesday.

“If you get pulled over on I-95, you get a ticket. That’s it,” Sununu said Tuesday.

Sununu and representatives from state police agencies from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire spoke about the spike in crashes each state has seen this year and New England law enforcement efforts to make cross-border holiday travel safer for all motorists.

The number of fatal accidents increases during the days surrounding Thanksgiving

Five people have died crashes on I-95 in New Hampshire this year, several of which occurred in which at least one vehicle crossed the median and encountered oncoming traffic.

Three recent crashes on Seacoast I-95 resulted in three deaths and serious injuries to several motorists and passengers, prompting the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to begin making plans to add median barriers to the “most critical portions” of the I -95. The project is still in the design phase and no cost estimates have been released, but construction will start in the summer of 2025, a Department of Transportation spokesperson previously said.

Since 2019, all crashes on New Hampshire’s major roadways during Thanksgiving week have killed five people and injured nine others. Disability was a factor in four of the crashes, state police reported. The agency defines the Thanksgiving period as Wednesday through Sunday during the holiday week.

From 2019 to 2023, 2,183 non-fatal crashes occurred on New Hampshire roadways during the Thanksgiving holiday periods.

“This is a very important story. This is not sensational. People have been dying in very alarming numbers in recent weeks,” Sununu said on Tuesday. “The roads haven’t changed. Circumstances have not necessarily changed. We’ve actually had pretty good weather apart from today, but pretty good weather outside of that. It’s all about driving behavior.”

The night before Thanksgiving is referred to as “Drinksgiving” and “Blackout Wednesday,” according to New Hampshire State Police spokesman Tyler Dumont, as crowds flock to hometown bars and drinking establishments in the hours leading up to the holiday.

“We are especially concerned this year given the recent troubling trends on our roadways across the state,” Dumont said.

NH fatalities in 2024 on track to easily exceed 2023

According to state police Lt. Christopher Storm, 127 people have died in fatal car crashes on New Hampshire’s major roads to date. That represents the entire fatality count of all 2023 crashes in New Hampshire, with just over a month to go before the new year and without the bad weather conditions having fully set in yet.

State Police conducted a saturation patrol on I-95 on Wednesday, November 20, stopping more than 200 cars. Hours after the patrol period ended, a 26-year-old Merrimack resident was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries following a series of multi-vehicle collisions on I-95 in Greenland.

“Drivers, pay attention. If you speed, drive recklessly or drive improperly on our roads, you will face the consequences,” Storm said on Tuesday. “Just a moment of carelessness can have lifelong consequences for everyone involved.”

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation recently installed 276 reflective markers around the area of the recent serious and fatal accidents involving Seacoast I-95. The department is working with the state Department of Safety on driver safety messaging, with electronic billboards telling drivers to slow down, sober up and stay alert during their journey.

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 500 drivers in the United States were involved in fatal crashes on Thanksgiving Eve between 2018 and 2022, Dumont said Tuesday.

On Thanksgiving Day 2022, Drew Ceppetellia 21-year-old Barrington, New Hampshire, resident and student-athlete at Salve Regina University was killed in a single-vehicle crash at the Portsmouth roundabout. All six passengers in that speeding vehicle were transported to local hospitals after the driver lost control, slid across the roadway, overturned several times and the occupants were ejected.

Northwood, New Hampshire, resident Tyler Troythe impaired driver behind the wheel during the incident recently pleaded guilty to negligent homicide while intoxicated and four other charges, resulting in a minimum six-year state prison sentence.

Ten motor vehicle drivers under the age of 21 have been killed in crashes on New Hampshire’s major highways in 2024, up from three deaths among the same demographic last year, according to state police data.

A total of 146 people died in fatal car crashes on New Hampshire roads throughout 2022, according to state police data.

Law enforcement officials from the four New England states on Tuesday urged motorists to fasten their seat belts, stay sober, stay awake while traveling, put down phones and portable devices while driving, and to avoid unsafe and distracted drivers that they encounter on the road.

Anyone planning to drink this holiday week, and in the future, should always use a designated driver to get home afterward, the speakers in Concord, New Hampshire, said. This could save lives.

“The ‘zero tolerance’ policy that I’m really implementing during the holidays is to create some awareness, to wake people up. (It’s) to make people realize, ‘Holy cow, this is real. It could be me, my child, my neighbor, my father.” It could be anyone out there. It is an absolute zero-tolerance policy on the I-95 corridor, where we have just had an inordinate number of unnecessary crossings in recent weeks, especially into the median,” Sununu said.

According to Storm, New Hampshire State Police expect to increase their presence on state highways throughout the week with between 50 and 100 patrols.