As we informed readers in a recent blog post (May 26), Georgia traffic enforcement officials have been fully engaged with two separate campaign initiatives that have been operating throughout the state, one of them focused on drunk driving and speeding, the other on seat belt use.
The campaign aimed at DUI enforcement and speeding/reckless driving -- entitled "100 Days of Summer Heat (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic)" -- is ongoing and will continue through Labor Day. That program coordinates the multi-jurisdictional efforts of enforcement agencies across the state and focuses especially closely on night time driving, when most fatal drunk driving accidents occur.
The tandem program -- the "Click it or Ticket" campaign aimed at seat belt compliance and conducted annually in most states across the country -- concluded just last week, with enforcement agencies across Georgia touting its results.
The Gwinnett County Police Department is representative of the comments made and statistics issued by other Georgia police departments, with a spokesperson for the agency saying that 292 belt citations were issued during the campaign to county residents who weren't lawfully buckled up.
The seat belt campaign, like the DUI initiative, is also especially concerned with night driving. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicate that more than 11,500 motorists died in traffic accidents nationally in 2009 between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sixty-plus percent of them were not wearing seat belts.
Related Resource: Patch, "Click it or Ticket Campaign Comes to an End" June 10, 2011
