POLICE IN 5 STATES JOIN GEORGIA DRUNK DRIVING CAMPAIGN
On Labor Day, drunk drivers who tried to run from police in Georgia were frustrated to find even more police waiting for them at every Georgia state line -- Georgia’s Annual Hands Across The Border intra-state highway safety crackdown hit the road for another year. A Labor Day tradition, Hands Across the Border is now in its seventeenth year of saving lives on roads and interstates throughout the southeast.
“This week-long effort erased any confusion about the long arm of the law extending past state lines,” said Director Bob Dallas of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). “Our counterparts in other states may wear different uniforms and follow separate traffic laws, but across the southeast, the men and women of law enforcement share a common goal of ridding our roadways of drunk drivers. And that’s what Hands Across The Border is all about.”
17TH “HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER” DUI ENFORCEMENT
For six days leading up to the Labor Day weekend, police, sheriff’s deputies and State Troopers throughout Georgia did rendezvous at state Welcome Centers for interviews with news media and photo-ops with handshakes and helicopters to promote highway safety education. But it’s not just about local TV, radio and newspaper coverage -- Georgia’s peace officers joined their law enforcement partners from six bordering states in a major mobilization effort coordinated by the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) to crack down on impaired drivers.
Officers from neighboring Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina met at Georgia Welcome Centers to conduct joint Hands Across The Border news conferences and media events near the state borders. Each year this campaign creates an outstanding opportunity for law enforcement officers from adjoining southeastern states to renew their commitment to work together all year long to save lives on all our roadways.
Unified for a Safer South
For seventeen years, the highlight of these media events has been the traditional handshake between traffic enforcement officers from both sides of the state lines as they make their annual Hands Across The Border pledge of cooperation to work together to reduce crashes, fatalities and serious injuries on our highways. After the speeches and media coverage, officers line-up in blue-light motorcades to the adjoining state’s visitor center to repeat their life-saving pledge.
This year, the Hands Across The Border campaign ran concurrent with the nationwide Labor Day impaired driving mobilization. In Georgia, it’s Operation Zero Tolerance.. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. GOHS is also coordinating the “100 Days Of Summer HEAT” initiative this Labor Day to raise awareness about the deadly consequences of speed, aggressive driving, and failure to use safety belts and child restraints. For more information about Operation Zero Tolerance, Hands Across The Border, and the“100 Days Of Summer HEAT”, visit the GOHS website at www.gahighwaysafety.org.
More photos can be found at http://www.wehuntatnight.com.
