PRINCETON, WV (WOAY) – More than one-third of Americans are planning to travel during the upcoming holiday season.
Traveling during this time is typical, but there’s plenty of risk as well. According to Sergeant Faris with the Princeton Police Department, there’s plenty of precautions that travelers should take to ensure their safety.
“We do have a lot of traffic during Thanksgiving. This year it won’t be as much due to the COVID pandemic, but when you’re out driving just make sure you’re paying attention. Always plan ahead, look for inclement weather, ice, things like that before you travel,” Faris said.
Millions of people across the country will be leaving their homes and traveling for the holiday season, leaving plenty of opportunity for thieves to take advantage. Police recommend you lock up your homes and keep your valuables safe.
As well, plenty of people will be shopping during this season, and Sergeant Faris says a good practice to start is keeping track of serial numbers in case a valuable is stolen.
“A good thing to do that I practice at my household is that anytime we get something new, we always document the serial numbers. And it’s as simple as taking a picture of it with your phone to document those serial numbers. In case that item is ever stolen, it helps law enforcement to locate it later.”
Police also recommend that if you travel to visit family, you still take care to practice social distancing, because groups larger than just a few people can increase COVID risk significantly.
The CDC has gone as far as recommending Americans avoid travel altogether during the holidays to keep COVID spread to a minimum.
