Georgia Troopers Planning for a Busy Labor Day Weekend

August 29, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWS RELEASE

(ATLANTA)—Georgia State Troopers and officers with the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Motor Carrier Compliance and Capitol Police divisions are preparing for a busy 78-hour Labor Day holiday travel period.  Heavy traffic is expected throughout the weekend across the state as holiday vacation travel combines with holiday festivals and the start of the high school and college football seasons.

      The Labor Day holiday travel period is 78 hours long and begins at 6 p.m., Friday, August 31 and ends at midnight, Labor Day.  The Georgia State Patrol and the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Crash Reporting Unit estimate 1,897 traffic crashes, 995 injuries and 18 traffic deaths on Georgia roads during the holiday period.  Last year, there were 2,063 crashes, 1,018 injuries and 22 deaths reported during a similar 78-hour period.

      “This holiday period is traditionally the end of the summer travel season, so traffic will be heavy,” Colonel Bill Hitchens, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.  “From past experience, it is also a time when law enforcement officers see an increase in the number of alcohol-impaired drivers on the roads.”

      Colonel Hitchens said troopers, Motor Carrier officers and Capitol Police officers will be out in full force during the heaviest travel times of the period in an effort to reduce the number of traffic crashes across the state.  He said troopers will be concentrating on impaired drivers during their patrols throughout the weekend and will not limit their patrols to the interstates of Georgia.  “Last year, only three of the 22 traffic deaths recorded during the holiday period occurred on the interstates,” he said.  “Troopers and Motor Carrier officers will also be patrolling the secondary roads.”

      The Labor Day holiday weekend is also an Operation C.A.R.E. holiday period.  Operation C.A.R.E., or Combined Accident Reduction Effort, is a program of the International Association of Chiefs of Police designed to unite state law enforcement agencies across the United States and Canada in a campaign to reduce traffic deaths through high visibility enforcement and education.  The program is now in its 30th year. 

      Colonel Hitchens reminds motorists who will be on the roads during the holiday period to plan their trips carefully by allowing ample time to reach their destination, plan for rest stops along the way, obey the posted speed limit, don’t drive if you have consumed alcohol, and make sure everyone in the vehicle is properly restrained.  “Please take the time to properly restrain children – no matter how short the trip,” he said.

      The highest number of traffic deaths recorded over the Labor Day holiday period was in 1968 when 35 traffic deaths occurred and the lowest was in 1939 and 1995 with seven fatalities.

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