The Georgia State Patrol is gearing-up to enforce holiday traffic.

Starting at 6 o’clock tonight, running through midnight Sunday is the 78-hour Christmas holiday travel period.

The State Patrol says it’s when officers typically see a spike in vehicles on Georgia’s interstates and state roads. That in turn usually leads to a jump in crashes.

Lieutenant Paul Cosper says potentially making things worse-is rain that’s expected to move through the state today.

"Anytime we see inclement weather we usually see an increase in traffic crashes - people don’t leave a safety barrier, they’re not paying attention…sliding into one another. We’re asking people to be cognicent of that."

State patrol officers will also be on-alert during the New Year’s traffic period, running from 6 p.m. December 31st through midnight Sunday, January 3rd.

Last year, traffic crashes killed 46 people in Georgia during the holiday travel periods.

Tags: roads, interstates, Georgia State Patrol, Christmas, crashes, holiday traffic