Statewide DUI Enforcement Campaign For July 4 Begins Today
July 4th is two weeks away, but the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) launches its annual Operation Zero Tolerance campaign today in a national impaired driving enforcement effort to get drunk drivers off the roads and inside a jail cell.
July 4th remains one of the most dangerous holidays on Georgia roads, according to authorities because alcohol-impaired crashes still account for 23 percent of all traffic fatalities in Georgia and in the last 2 years, the state has averaged 88 alcohol-impaired crashes for the July 3 to July 5 travel period.
To help reverse this trend, GOHS will be partnering with law enforcement agencies across the state to launch the annual Operation Zero Tolerance campaign where drivers are warned that if they’re over the limit, they’ll be under arrest.
Lavonia Police Captain Michael Schulman said the annual Click It or Ticket campaign will run all through the summer months.
“The summer of 2013 marks the 10th consecutive season that police are rolling out waves of enforcement patrols designed to reduce fatal crashes during Georgia’s deadliest holiday period from Memorial Day to Labor Day,” Schulman said.
Getting drunk drivers off the road is even more important at this point in 2013 because crash data indicates Georgia is ahead of its total traffic fatalities from this time last year.
As of June 20th last year, the state had experienced 499 fatalities, but that number is at 520 for this year.
“While a 4 percent increase may not seem like a lot to some people, that’s an additional 21 people who won’t be able to celebrate our nation’s independence this year,” said GOHS Director Harris Blackwood. “We’re launching Operation Zero Tolerance to not only rid the roads of drunk drivers, but to try and keep our traffic fatalities as low as possible. We join our partners in all 50 states to warn people to drive sober or get pulled over.”
This year, the Operation Zero Tolerance campaign starts on June 21st and runs through July 7th.
Schulman says as they do every holiday, local law enforcement will be out looking for impaired drivers and those not wearing their seat belts
Fourth of July impaired driving crashes aren’t just a problem in Georgia. Nationwide, the percentage of fatalities from impaired driving spikes around the Fourth of July.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 251 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes during the Fourth of July holiday in 2011. Of those fatalities, 38 percent were in crashes that involved at least one impaired driver.
For more information on Operation Zero Tolerance, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org