Millions of Texans are projected to hit the road as they celebrate the end of summer this Labor Day weekend, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Doug Shupe, a spokesperson with AAA Texas, said that while there are no official travel volume projections for this weekend, the number of travelers is expected to match other long weekends.
"Given what we saw over Memorial Day — which is a typical holiday to Labor Day, a five-day travel period — we could see in excess of 3 million Texans traveling 50 miles or more away from home," Shupe said. "We do know that the roads will be busy this evening as well as part of the day tomorrow, as a lot of people head out for their Labor Day destinations."
Shupe said higher gas prices this year are not expected to impact whether people will travel, but they could be a deciding factor in how far they plan to go.
"Even with higher gas prices heading into a holiday weekend, historically, we have found that people will still take road trips because they've made their plans for the holiday long before they knew what the price of the pump was going to be," he said. "They may adjust their schedules a little bit. Some people may not drive as far, or they'll stay with friends and family instead of spending money at a hotel."
According to AAA, the price of regular gas in Texas is up approximately 90 cents a gallon since this time last year, going from $2.78 a gallon to $3.69 a gallon. Gas prices had remained higher than average since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began earlier this year.
Harris County law enforcement launch Labor Day anti-DWI initiative
On Thursday, the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable's Office — along with the Houston Police Department, Harris County District Attorney's Office, Harris County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety — announced that they would be increasing their DWI enforcement over the three-day weekend.
Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen said the operation would include a “no-refusal” policy, allowing law enforcement officers to obtain a blood test warrant from an on-call judge if a suspect does not comply with a breathalyzer request.
He urged residents to plan ahead before they go out this weekend.
"This is not a general reminder, but a very forceful reminder that law enforcement is going to be out this weekend, and it's a no-refusal," Rosen said. "Every drunk driving crash starts with a decision ... Our officers are going to be out in force this Labor Day weekend to ensure that nobody is killed."
Less than 12 hours after law enforcement announced their anti-DWI initiative, six people were injured in a suspected wrong-way driver crash near Mueschke Road and FM 2920.
According to authorities, officers are investigating potential DWI and evading arrest charges against a suspect involved in the crash.
In a post on social media, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said all six people were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
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