SAN DIEGO — This holiday season, a record number of people are expected to travel for the Christmas and New Year's holiday, including in San Diego County.
While some are planning to hit the skies, the Automobile Club of Southern California predicts 8.3 million people are expected to drive to their destinations.
Maximum enforcement
The California Highway Patrol says its seen an increase in deadly crashes in recent weeks and plans to keep travelers safe this weekend with its maximum enforcement period.
“We'll be out there looking for distracted drivers, impaired drivers, aggressive drivers," said officer Salvador Castro. "We just want to let motorists know be patient when you're out there. We've had too many instances of people getting out of their cars fighting, a lot of road rage accidents.”
CHPS’s maximum enforcement runs from 6 p.m. on Friday until midnight on Monday. During this time all available officers will be on the roads for enhanced enforcement and to help drivers.
Last year, 639 drivers were arrested during the holiday weekend statewide. A total 26 people lost their lives in crashes.
“We're trying to reduce the amount of deaths on our freeway. We've been having an increase in fatal car crashes in the last few weeks. So we're trying to reduce that by having all available officers working this weekend," said officer Castro.
A recent study by Jerry, a national car insurance agency, ranked California first in the county as the most populous state that sees more deadly crashes over Christmas than any other state.
San Diego came in fifth place of cities with most fatalities over the holiday, according to the data.
“We urge drivers to just slow down, slow down and just take time to get to your destination," added Castro.
According to the study, most traffic fatalities of the holiday period are recorded on Christmas Day. The data shows that the 36-hour period, after 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve is the deadliest time to drive on an hourly basis.
The hours from 6 p.m. to midnight on Christmas Eve make up the deadliest six-hour stretch of the holiday period, with the most fatal crashes per hour seen from 6-8 p.m. Still, 6-7 p.m. Christmas Day ranks as the third-deadliest single hour of the period.
WATCH RELATED: AAA highlights dangers of distracted driving during 'Distracted Driving Awareness Month'