About Hands

• The 2011 Hands Across the Border was held on August 28-September 1 with law enforcement personnel from South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. It's mission is to connect highway safety efforts across the Southeastern United States.
• 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 Twentieth year of saving lives on roads and interstates throughout the southeast.

• For six days leading up to the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Georgia State Patrol and local police and sheriff’s deputies participate in the Hands Across the Border highway safety awareness campaign. Georgia law enforcement joined their partners from bordering states Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee in a major southeastern Zero Tolerance impaired driving enforcement effort.

•  Motorists who stopped at road checks and Visitors Centers in Georgia and bordering states received seatbelt, child safety seat and impaired driving brochures. This year, Hands Across the Border was part of the “One Hundred Days of Summer HEAT” campaign sponsored by the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety to raise awareness about the deadly consequences of speed, drunk and drugged driving, and failure to use safety belts and child restraints.

•  “Hands Across The Border is a great opportunity for Law Enforcement Officers of adjoining states to partner with each other and make a commitment to save lives on ALL our roadways. The event serves as a kick off to the Labor Day “Click it or Ticket” mobilization. During the events, law enforcement sends the message to the motoring public that traffic laws will be strictly enforced from state to state in an effort to save lives during the deadly Labor Day Holiday period. 

•  HATB traditionally is a series of media events at Welcome Centers around the state borders. Law Enforcement Officers from each state come together for a special program at the Georgia Welcome Center before motorcading to the adjoining state's welcome center for a continuation of the program. The highlight of the program is the handshake between two Law Enforcement officers from either side of the state lines, pledging their cooperation to work together in reducing fatalities and serious injuries during the holiday. The night before the HATB program, the two state's law enforcement agencies come together for multi state Sobriety Checkpoints or Saturation Patrols.

• 2011 NEWS RELEASE

  (GEORGIA) This Labor Day weekend, drunk drivers will have nowhere to run from police in Georgia because traffic enforcement officers from every neighboring state will be waiting at state lines to take them into custody. It’s time for Georgia’s annual Hands Across the Border intra-state impaired driving and highway safety crackdown. This annual law enforcement tradition leading up to the Labor Day weekend now marks 20 years of making the entire southeast safer from drunk drivers.

   

  “I’m proud to be at the helm of this agency as this lifesaving initiative marks its twentieth year,” said Director Harris Blackwood of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). “This impaired driving campaign serves as an annual reminder that law enforcement in Georgia and its five neighboring states continue to crack down on drunk and unsafe motorists. As people all over the southeast, and indeed the country, hit the road for their last holiday weekend of the Summer, they better not also hit the bottle before they get behind the wheel. Because it won’t matter if they’re driving into Georgia or driving out, if they’re drunk, they will be arrested and they will go to jail. No warnings. No excuses.”

   

  For five days leading up to Labor Day weekend, police, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers throughout Georgia will rendezvous at state welcome centers for news media interviews 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 will again join their partners from five bordering states in this major mobilization effort coordinated by GOHS to crack down on impaired drivers. 

   

  “If Georgia drivers plan on heading out of state for the holiday weekend, they should also plan on seeing more police officers, state troopers and local deputies than usual,” said Director Blackwood. “Especially in communities near the state line, drivers will see more flashing lights in their rearview mirror from August 28th through September 1st. Hands Across the Border is once again sending a message to every corner of the state that nobody will get away with driving drunk this Labor Day or any other day.”

   

  Each year, this campaigncreates an outstanding opportunity for officers from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina to renew their commitment to cooperate in their lifesaving mission. For twenty years, the highlight of the media events at Georgia welcome centers 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 to work together 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to reduce crashes, fatalities and serious injuries on our highways.  After the speeches and media coverage, officers convoy in blue-light motorcades to the adjoining states’ visitor centers to repeat their lifesaving pledge. 

   

  Once again, this year’s Hands Across The Border campaign runs concurrent with the nationwide Labor Day impaired driving mobilization. In Georgia, it’s Operation Zero Tolerance, which means you should be prepared to Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.  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 .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos from 2011 Hands Across the Border

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Governor's Office of Highway Safety in Georgia