121206 - State Troopers to Target Impaired Drivers During National Holiday Lifesaver Weekend

December 12, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Public Information Office
(404) 624-7597

NEWS RELEASE

(ATLANTA) - The Georgia State Patrol will join law enforcement agencies across the United States and Canada for National Holiday Lifesaver Weekend, December 15-17.  This is the 15th year of the safety program designed to encourage safe travel during the Christmas holiday period.

Georgia State Patrol Commander Colonel Bill Hitchens said Georgia State Troopers will be diligently searching for impaired drivers during their weekend patrols.  “As we approach the Christmas and New Year’s holiday periods, the dangers on our state’s roads are compounded,” he said.  “Sadly, adding to the dangers is an increase in the number of alcohol impaired drivers.”

“We are joining this coordinated, nationwide effort because it focuses on driving behaviors that kill,” Colonel Hitchens said.  “This is not just a local problem.”

            Colonel Hitchens said Georgia State Troopers and officers with the Motor Carrier Compliance Division as well as Capitol Police officers will be participating in National Lights On for Life Day on Friday, December 15 to remind drivers not to drink and drive.  Troopers and other DPS officers will patrol throughout the day with their headlights on to call attention to the dangers impaired drivers pose on the nation’s highways.

National Holiday Lifesaver Weekend is sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is a campaign of Operation C.A.R.E., or Combined Accident Reduction Effort.  Operation C.A.R.E. is a coordinated effort among the nation’s state highway patrols and state police agencies to reduce the number of traffic deaths nationwide through enforcement efforts, including high visibility patrols, concentrated patrols and road checks.

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