Media release from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety:
(ATLANTA) Kick the summer off with a ‘click’ by always wearing a seat belt when traveling on the road and buckling a life jacket when swimming or riding on a boat or personal watercraft. The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS), Georgia Department of Public Safety and Georgia Department of Natural Resources are delivering these important safety reminders ahead of the Memorial Day Holiday weekend during their annual “Belts & Jackets” Safety Tour.
The “Belts & Jackets” Tour began Thursday morning at Lanier Islands on Lake Lanier in Buford and followed with the stops in Columbus at Lake Oliver and finished at Veterans State Park at Lake Blackshear near Cordele. With more than one million Georgians expected to be on the road and thousands expected on Georgia waterways during the holiday weekend, state and local law enforcement officers ask everyone to make smart choices, such as wearing seat belts when riding in vehicles and life jackets when riding in boats and personal watercraft.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) “Click It or Ticket” seat belt awareness and enforcement mobilization runs from May 18-31 in Georgia and falls during the Memorial Day Holiday travel period. Seat belts are the most important safety feature in every vehicle because all safety features are designed to be the most effective when the vehicle occupants are properly restrained.
Some people mistakenly believe they do not need to wear a seat belt because an air bag will protect them if they are in a crash. The force of an air bag can seriously injure or kill someone who is not wearing a seat belt in a crash.
Many people riding in the back seat also mistakenly believe they do not need to wear a seat belt. According to NHTSA, two out of every three passenger vehicle occupants riding in the back seat who died in crashes in Georgia between 2020 and 2024 were not wearing a seat belt.
“Seat belts save thousands of lives in our nation every year and more lives could be saved if everyone would choose to wear a seat belt on every trip,” Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said. “State troopers and local law enforcement officers see the difference wearing a seat belt makes every day and they would rather write a citation that could potentially save a life than have to notify a family that a loved one has been killed in a crash.”
Preliminary state crash data showed 15 people died in traffic crashes last year in Georgia during the 78-hour Memorial Day Holiday weekend that began at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 22 and ended at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 26. According to NHTSA crash data, 47% of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes during the Memorial Day Holiday weekend in Georgia from 2020 to-2024 were not wearing seat belts.
More than 9.750 people passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States in 2024 were not wearing a seat belt. Federal crash data showed that 56% of the passenger vehicle crashes in the state in 2024 were not wearing seat belts.
State troopers and local law enforcement officers will be stepping up enforcement of all traffic laws during the holiday weekend including speeding, distracted driving, drunk and drugged driving and failure to wear a seat belt. State and local law enforcement remind everyone that Georgia has a zero tolerance for drunk and drugged driving, which means any driver found to be over the legal Blood-Alcohol Concentration (BAC) limit of .08 will be arrested. No excuses! No warnings!
“We want everyone to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend with their family and friends,” Colonel William W. Hitchens, III, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, said. “An important part of this is making it to your destinations safely by avoiding distracted driving, observing speed limits, and not driving impaired. Additionally, always make sure you are buckled up and all of your passengers are in their seatbelts and child safety seats correctly.”
This is National Boating Safety Week, and many Georgians are looking forward to being on the water for the first time this year during the holiday weekend. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division reminds all vessel operators state law requires all boats and personal watercraft (PWC) to have a properly-fitting, U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket for each passenger. Children under 13 are required to wear a life jacket whenever the vessel is in motion, and all PWC occupants are required to wear a life jacket at all times.
During the Memorial Day weekend, Game Wardens will be conducting vessel safety checks and arresting any boater they find who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Georgia law prohibits anyone from operating a motor vehicle, boat or personal watercraft with a Blood-Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level of .08 or higher.
According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, 66 people drowned in the state last year and Game Wardens investigated 122 boating incidents that killed 10 people and injured 92. Game Wardens also made 243 Boating Under the Influence (BUI) arrests on Georgia lakes and waterways in 2025.
“Our Game Wardens will be out in full force this weekend and all summer long,” said Colonel Chris Hodge, Director of Georgia DNR’s Law Enforcement Division. “Our goal is simple — for everyone to enjoy Georgia’s waterways, and to go home safely at the end of the day and getting unsafe and irresponsible operators off the water is one of the best ways to make sure that happens.”
The Memorial Day Holiday weekend is the start of the 100 Days of Summer H.E.A.T. Between now and the Labor Day holiday weekend, state troopers and local law enforcement ask everyone to make the summer season and every day safe on our roads by driving at safe speeds, wearing seat belts, keeping your attention on the road, and never operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
GOHS, Georgia State Patrol, GOHS Traffic Enforcement Networks, and GOHS Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (H.E.A.T.) units offer these safety reminders for those traveling during the Memorial Day holiday:
• Allow more time for your trip due to traffic
• Do not speed to get to your destination faster
• Designate a sober driver before any celebration begins
• Program navigation devices before getting on the road
• Take breaks as needed and change drivers if possible
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