New York’s “Pumpkin Patrol” Returns to Keep Drivers Safe on the Thruway

New York’s “Pumpkin Patrol” Returns

If you’ve ever driven the Thruway around Halloween, you might’ve noticed State Troopers parked near overpasses, and it’s not for speeding tickets or ghosts. It’s for pumpkins.

Yep, pumpkins.

For nearly 50 years, the New York State Police Pumpkin Patrol has been protecting motorists from one of the most dangerous (and stupidest) Halloween pranks imaginable: tossing pumpkins and other objects from overpasses onto moving cars.

The initiative, coordinated by State Police Troop T, returns for its 49th year on October 30th and 31st, keeping a close watch on bridges and overpasses along the Thruway to make sure everyone gets home safely.

Community Effort

The Pumpkin Patrol is a genuine community effort where hundreds of volunteers from local Citizen Band radio clubs and amateur radio organizations will help troopers monitor overpasses across more than a dozen counties.

If anything suspicious pops up, they can immediately alert nearby patrols or local law enforcement.

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The program actually started back in 1976 in Fort Johnson, Montgomery County, as a grassroots volunteer project. The State Police took it over in 1990, expanding it statewide as part of their Halloween safety efforts.

What to Watch For

This weekend, expect to see troopers out in full force, not just watching for flying pumpkins, but also cracking down on impaired, distracted, and aggressive driving throughout Halloween.

It’s one of those rare programs that’s lasted generations — started by locals, kept alive by volunteers, and supported by State Police who know a prank can turn deadly fast.

So this Halloween, if you see someone on an overpass, let’s hope they’re a volunteer in a reflective vest and not a knucklehead looking to chuck a pumpkin.