The Clanton Police Department will hold a traffic blitz next week in an effort to slow down students traveling to and from Gulf Coast beaches for spring break.

The spring break safety blitz will include ramped up patrols along Interstate 65 on March 27-28, Captain Neil Fetner said.

“We’re going to try to slow down the spring breakers,” Fetner said. “We’re going to see if we can get people to at least slow down when they’re coming through Clanton.”

Fetner said CPD would patrol the interstate from Exit 212 south to Exit 205, both southbound and northbound lanes.

On March 26, 2011, a Troy man and four Indiana high school students died during an interstate wreck near Verbena. The students were returning home from a spring break trip.

“Because of the fatalities, we felt like it was a good idea to get out and try to educate people on their driving, and hopefully we won’t have any accidents this year,” Fetner said. “We just want people to slow down and drive a little more cautiously.”

Fetner urged motorists to allow themselves plenty of travel time so they’re not rushed, and also to buckle their seatbelts and carry proof of insurance.