OPERATION ZERO TOLERANCE: DECEMBER 15, 2006 THROUGH JANUARY 1, 2007
Most motorists don’t realize the risk of a driver dying in a crash at .08 BAC is at least 11 times that of drivers without alcohol in their system. That’s why driving with a BAC of .08 or higher is illegal in every state. Yet too many people still ignore the law. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, more than 1.3 million people were arrested for driving under the influence during 2005.
For the families of 141 people, last Christmas was no time for celebration in Georgia. That’s the number of highway fatalities counted here over the course of 31,434 December crashes. Another 11,784 people were injured. Many critically.
To Georgia’s highway safety professionals, the causes behind those December fatalities sound all too familiar. Seventeen victims were killed in alcohol-or-drug-related-crashes. Another 27 died due to excessive-or-unsafe-speed. And in the largest single category, 81 people died because they simply weren’t wearing safety restraints. “That’s more than 57-percent who might have survived if they’d just taken time to fasten their safety belts or buckle-up their kids,” said Governor's Office of Highway Safety Director Bob Dallas.
That’s why GOHS is coordinating with more than 500 Georgia police departments, sheriff’s offices and State Patrol Posts to set up sobriety checkpoints and run concentrated patrols on our roadways and interstates this holiday travel season. We call it OZT.. Operation ZERO TOLERANCE.
Research has proven that the high visibility enforcement of OZT, coupled with focused media attention, results in reduced impaired driving crashes and fatalities. While police are looking for impaired drivers this December, they’ll be on the look-out for speeders and safety belt violators too. “We’re even telling motorists when to watch out for the blue lights. Because it’s not about writing more tickets.. it’s about saving more lives,” said GOHS Director Dallas.
Georgia’s OZT holiday enforcement crackdown is scheduled to begin Friday, December 15 and run through Monday, January 1, 2007. And this December, Georgia is mobilizing along with thousands of local and state law enforcement agencies across the country under a new national campaign slogan: Over The Limit. Under Arrest.
“Impaired driving is no accident – nor is it a victimless crime,“ said Director Dallas. “Driving any vehicle – including a motorcycle - while impaired is simply wrong and not worth the risk. Be responsible about your own limits. Designate a driver before you party. Hand your keys to a friend before you reach the illegal limit. Don’t let your year end in an arrest, a tragic crash or death. Remember: Over The Limit. Under Arrest.”
