Many families take to the open road over Memorial Day to take advantage of the long weekend and to celebrate the unofficial start of summer. Idaho State Police wants to remind all drivers to remain safe.

Last year there were 129 crashes in Idaho with 81 injuries and two fatalities. Idaho State Police has provided these safety reminders which are great for both Idaho and Washington drivers:

Wear Your Seatbelts: Police in both Idaho and Washington will be strictly enforcing seat belt laws and drivers with children are reminded to make sure all children are in age appropriate safety seats and that children under 12 are in the back seat.

Designate a Driver: Nearly 30 people a day die in an alcohol related crash. Make sure to designate a driver before anyone in your party drinks.

It's time to put the cell phone down or be ticketed. Law enforcement around the state of Washington will conduct emphasis patrols to pull people over talking or texting for the next two weeks.

Troopers say texting while driving is so dangerous that if you text your friend "be there soon," your head may be down for 4 or 5 seconds. By the time you look up, you've traveled more than 100 yards with your head down.

"A lot can happen in that time traffic can slow down, cars change lanes, an animal's in the road, you never know," Trooper Morgan Mehaffey said.

It's really amazing all the tools troopers have to track down law-breakers. Trooper Mehaffey even has a radar on the back of his patrol car to tell if you're speeding behind him. But all he needs to tell your talking on the phone is a set of eyes.

"Got a little chicken wing sitting up there," he said about one driver talking on his phone.

For the next two weeks, four more WSP troopers in Spokane will cruise the freeways eye-balling texting, cell phone talking, no-seat-belt-wearing drivers.

You have until Monday, May 20th, to get those Hoopfest entries in. This is the final deadline to play in the largest three on three basketball tournament in the world.

Unfortunately, the deadline for guaranteed entry has already passed, this entries made for the Monday deadline will be granted on a space available basis. But don't fret, even if you aren't able to play there are still plenty of opportunities to volunteer. Hoopfest is still need of general volunteers as well as people to act as court monitors. 

Visit http://spokanehoopfest.net to register as a player or to sign up as a volunteer.