Click or Ticket Campaign Underway for Memorial Holiday
It’s one of the busiest travel times of the year in Georgia.
As the Memorial Day holiday weekend kicks off, officials from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia State Patrol and Governor’s Office of Highway Safety are touring the state this week to remind motorists and boaters alike that no matter what wheel they’re behind, they need to remain safe and sober.
Operation Click it or Ticket started Monday and will continue through the entire Memorial Day holiday to June 1st.
Lavonia Police, along with local law enforcement in Franklin, Hart, Stephens and Banks counties are joining the Georgia State Patrol in holding random checkpoints and cracking down on motorists not wearing their safety belts or driving under the influence this weekend.
Lavonia Police Captain Michael Schulman, many accidents happen at night during a holiday. He said it is the worst time for impaired or unbuckled driving.
“They are happening in disproportionate numbers in rural areas,” Schulman said. “According to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, 61% of motorists killed nationwide in previous years during a holiday weekend were killed at night and were not wearing seatbelts.”
But whatever time you get on the road this weekend, day or night, use caution as you travel.
You can expect traffic in Northeast Georgia to be particularly heavy beginning Friday as visitors descend on Hartwell Lake and take advantage of Memorial Day ceremonies and other activities going on this weekend.
Schulman says most of the accident fatalities that happen in our area over a holiday weekend, happen on rural roads and not on the Interstate.
“Pick up drivers have the lowest usage of seatbelts and in Georgia last year 60% of the traffic fatalities were victims who were not wearing a seatbelt,” he said.
During the 2013 Memorial Day weekend, state troopers investigated 650 crashes that resulted in 366 injuries, and six fatalities.
In addition to the traffic crash investigations last year, troopers arrested 310 people for driving under the influence while issuing 9,288 citations and 15,328 warnings.