It’s a tragic start to spring break after six people were killed in a number of accidents across Texoma this past weekend. As many as nine others were hospitalized due to those accidents; many of them are slowly recovering.

With many people heading out of town for vacations officials said it’s time to be extra vigilant when it comes to roadway safety. “We left McKinney, Texas over a week ago and we drove all the way to Park City, Utah to go skiing and we spent six days there skiing and we’ve been coming back through the Colorado Rockies,” said Tracy Jordan, a traveler passing through Wichita Falls.

She said it was a 13 hour drive there, and it’s been an exhausting trip back. “Coming back, we’re all tired from skiing so we’ve had two hotel stays,” said Jordan. “We’ve taken short days, to make sure we don’t drive too long in a certain time period.”

With the crowded roadways, the family said they aren’t taking any chances. Something the Texas Department of Public Safety also urges anyone traveling to consider. Drivers need to be proactive by doing simple things like eliminating distractions while driving, putting away cell phones, buckling up and driving defensively, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“I stay awake with him,” said Jordan. “He drinks a Monster drink if we’re going stay up till ten, but like last night he wanted to push on and make it home, and I made him stop in Amarillo, I said ‘no we’re not driving past 10 o’clock.’”

The Texas Department of Transportation said during Spring Break 2015 there were 459 DUI related crashes. Those accidents led to 43 serious injuries and 16 fatalities. Although the unpredictable can happen at anytime, Jordan said she tries to minimize those risks to have a safe trip.

DPS Troopers said they don’t normally ramp up patrol officers during spring break week. The most noticed increases in traffic come the weekend before spring break and the weekend after.

– Newschannel 6