(Media release from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety):
State and local law enforcement officers remind everyone to never make the mistake of driving after drinking because those who do could find themselves sitting in a jail cell.
Georgia law enforcement officers are issuing this warning prior to the start of the 32nd annual “Hands Across the Border” drunk and driving enforcement prevention campaign, which starts Monday in Georgia and four southeastern states.
State and local law enforcement officers will be conducting sobriety roadchecks across Georgia while law enforcement officers in Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina will conduct roadchecks on their side of the state line prior to the start of the Labor Day holiday weekend.
The week-long campaign will conclude with “No DUI Friday”, where state and local officers in 21 states will increase enforcement of DUI laws with the goal to have no one killed in a drunk or drugged driving crash.
It is against the law in Georgia to operate a motor vehicle with a Blood-Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level of .08 or higher. Drivers found to be over the legal limit in Georgia are arrested as troopers, deputies and police officers in Georgia do not give warnings and they do not let suspected DUI drivers call someone to drive them home.
“There should never be anyone killed by a drunk or drugged driver in our nation because every one of these crashes is caused by a selfish person who knowingly made the wrong choice to drive over the legal limit,” Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said. “Our goal is for everyone to safely reach their destination on every trip and one way that will happen is everyone making the right choice to never drive after drinking.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, almost three out of ten people killed in traffic crashes during the Labor Day Holiday weekend travel period from 2017-2021 in Georgia involved a drunk driver and 60 percent of those fatal drunk driving crashes involved a driver whose BAC was twice the legal limit. Forty percent of the persons killed in Labor Day holiday weekend travel period in Georgia from 2017-2021 were between the ages of 16-34 and 25 percent of those crashes involved a drunk driver.
Preliminary crash data shows 22 people were killed in crashes in Georgia during the 2022 Labor Day holiday weekend travel period that began at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 2nd and ended at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, September 5th.
“There is nothing harder for a law enforcement officer to do than to notify a family that loved one has been killed by a drunk or drugged driver,” Roger Hayes, Director of GOHS Law Enforcement Services said. “That is why state troopers and local law enforcement officers have a zero tolerance for impaired driving because every drunk and drugged driver they take off the road is potentially at least one life saved and one family they will not have to call.”
Georgia law enforcement officers will split into two groups for a second straight year during “Hands Across the Border.”.
The North group will begin working with Alabama in the Bremen area on Monday, North Carolina in Dillard on Tuesday, and South Carolina in the Augusta area on Wednesday.
The South group will start with checkpoints in Columbus on Monday with Alabama, Valdosta with Florida on Tuesday, and on Wednesday with Florida in Kingsland, where the first “Hands Across the Border” handshake took place in 1991.
The two groups will meet in Savannah for the final day of enforcement on Thursday night before the week concludes with the “No DUI Friday” enforcement campaign in 21 states.
The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and NHTSA offer the following highway safety tips for those traveling during the Labor Day holiday weekend:
- ·Allow extra time for your trip with more vehicles on the road
- ·Always wear a seat belt and make sure all passengers are properly restrained
- ·Designate a passenger to use the phone for navigation and program your destination into your device before getting on the road
- ·Plan ahead for a sober ride when alcohol is going to be part of the plans
- ·Let family and friends know they can contact you for a sober ride
AAA-The Auto Club will be offering free tows and rides only for the driver of a vehicle for up to ten miles from 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 1st through 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 5th. AAA-The Auto Club reminds everyone their Tow-to-Go service does not make appointments and is designed as a safety net for those drivers who did not plan ahead for a sober ride.
