Media release from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety:
(ATLANTA) Georgia and four neighboring states have reached another milestone in their combined effort to reduce drunk and driving crashes in the southeast when the 35th annual ‘Hands Across the Border’ enforcement campaign starts Sunday. State and local law enforcement officers in Georgia will partner during the week with their fellow law enforcement officers in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee to take drunk and drugged drivers off the road at sobriety checkpoints.
‘Hands Across the Border’ started in 1991 when state troopers in southeast Georgia and northeast Florida challenged each other to see which agency could reduce the number of drunk and drugged driving crash deaths in their respective state through increased enforcement. Troopers from both states met at the Georgia Interstate 95 Welcome Center in St. Mary’s for a friendly handshake and photograph. The mobilization quickly expanded to a week-long enforcement campaign that over the last 35 years has included Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The mobilization will begin this year in Columbus on Sunday, August 23 and continue Monday in Ringgold, Augusta on Tuesday, Savannah on Wednesday and will finish where it all started 35 years ago at the Georgia Interstate 95 Welcome Center in St. Mary’s on Thursday. State and local law enforcement in Georgia will continue conducting sobriety checkpoints the following week to send a message before the Labor Day Holiday travel weekend that Georgia maintains a zero-tolerance policy for drunk and drugged driving.
It is against the law in Georgia to operate a motor vehicle with a Blood-Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level of .08 or higher. Georgia’s zero-tolerance policy for drunk and drugged driving means any driver whose BAC is at or above the legal limit will be arrested. No warnings are ever given, and no one is allowed to call a family member or friend to give them a ride.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates a drunk driving arrest could cost up to $10,000 in fines, court fees, attorney fees and higher insurance costs. A DUI arrest or conviction could cost someone their job or prevent them from being hired.
“Choosing to drive under the influence of alcohol, drugs or a mixture of both substances is a selfish decision that endangers the lives of everyone on the road,” Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said. “That is why Georgia and our neighbors continue to work together to put drunk and drugged drivers in a jail cell where they will not pose a threat to anyone traveling on the road.”
According to NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), almost 40% of the people killed in crashes during the Labor Day Holiday weekend in Georgia from 2020-2024 involved one driver whose BAC was .08 or higher and 65% of the people killed in drunk driving crashes during the Labor Day Holiday weekend in Georgia during this five-year period involved a driver whose BAC was twice the legal limit.
Federal crash data also showed that more than half the drivers killed in traffic crashes in Georgia during the Labor Day Holiday weekend from 2020-2024 were over the legal BAC limit and nearly 60% of those drivers killed in traffic crashes in Georgia during the Labor Day Holiday weekend from 2020-2024 had a BAC that was twice the legal limit.
According to a GOHS Georgia Traffic Safety Fact Sheet on Impaired Driving published in July 2025, more than 80% of the persons killed or hospitalized in drunk driving crashes in Georgia in 2023 were riding in the vehicle hit by the drunk driver. The state crash data showed that 13% of those killed in drunk driving crashes in Georgia in 2023 were the impaired driver.
“State and local law enforcement wish they did not have to arrest anyone for driving under the influence but they are ready to take all drunk and drugged drivers they find off the road because that is potentially one less family that will lose a loved one in a traffic crash that is completely preventable,” Poole said. “That is why we ask everyone to do their part to eliminate drunk and drugged driving deaths by choosing not to drive after drinking and to not let others drive if they have been drinking.”
“Hands Across the Border” falls during NHTSA’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” high-visibility enforcement campaign that runs from August 19 through September 7. State troopers and local law enforcement in Georgia will be enforcing DUI and all traffic laws during the 78-hour Labor Day Holiday weekend starting at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 4 and ending at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, September 7.
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
- Do not speed to try to make up time
- ·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
AAA-The Auto Club’s Tow-To-Go will offer free tows and a ride only for the driver of a vehicle for up to ten miles from 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 4th through 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8th. AAA-The Auto Club reminds everyone that their Tow-to-Go service does not take reservations and is designed as a safety net for those drivers who did not plan ahead for a sober ride.
(Photo Hands Across the Border 1991 – St. Mary’s Ga / Credit: Luther Hires)
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