Beating the odds of holiday travel perils

Are you feeling lucky? Apparently, most people do feel fortune’s smile, judging by the packed roads each Memorial Day weekend. Take a closer look at the odds. Tornadoes and macrobursts lifted massive trees from their roots, crushed cars and ripped siding from homes as they carved through municipalities last week. Two people were killed in a terrorizing display of the nature’s fury that left thousands in the dark for several days.

Still, the chances of getting hurt are probably higher if you take to the roads over the next few days.

Weather in all forms — even the most extreme — carries a high percentage of unpredictability. There’s a reason weathermen are cursed even more than politicians and the media.

Police have made an art of predicting the likelihood of impaired drivers getting behind the wheel on weekends such as this one. They are hunting for them with cruisers both marked and unmarked and hold sobriety checkpoints. They also encourage help from the community.

“If you see a suspected drunk driver report it immediately by calling 911, as this is a true emergency,” Connecticut state police urge as they join the National Combined Accident Reduction Effort, an effort by state police agencies across the country.

They offer their prey fair warning, providing lists published online and in newspapers of where and when checkpoints will be held.

But anyone who drives in an impaired state isn’t too smart to begin with. Even with the roadblocks publicized, state police busted 31 drunken drivers during Memorial Day weekend 12 months ago.

During that same three-day span, state police also nailed 668 people for failing to wear seat belts and 2,658 on moving violations.

In contrast to the lives lost during the storm, three people died over the holiday weekend in 2017, while 48 other crashes resulted in injuries.

If those statistics aren’t sobering enough, consider that they only represent the efforts of state police. This weekend, following another unfortunate Memo- rial Day weekend tradition, police in towns and cities throughout Connecticut will also be on the lookout for erratic driving.

Even if you’re wise enough not to drive after imbibing, you may still be guilty of that other form of impaired behavior — texting or otherwise using your cell phone illegally.

And that’s just on land. There may be fewer members of the boating community than there are with driver’s licenses, but they need to show a similar sense of responsibility and respect for others out on the water.

We’re not trying to spoil the party. It’s OK to toast the unofficial launch of summer. But keep an eye out for one another, use those Uber or Lyft apps if necessary and prepare to do everything a ... little ... slower.

We can all do our part to save lives on a holiday that honors Americans who selflessly died for their country. It shouldn’t just come down to a matter of luck.

But anyone who drives in an impaired state isn’t too smart to begin with. Even with the roadblocks publicized, state police busted 31 drunken drivers during Memorial Day weekend 12 months ago.