AN ARTICLE BY GOHS DEPUTY DIRECTOR ROBERT MIKELL IN THIS MONTH'S SHERIFF'S MAGAZINE
After seeing impressive reductions in total traffic fatalities and those involving impaired driving in the late 1980's and early 1990's, data indicates that in the U.S. most states have continued to make only nominal gains and others are losing ground in their battle to eliminate deaths and injuries caused by impaired drivers.
Fortunately, new ways and means of combating impaired driving show great promise and impressive results. To read about these new techniques and the rest of the article, click on
GOHS DEPUTY DIRECTOR ROB MIKELL INTERVIEWED REGARDING CLICK IT OR TICKET CAMPAIGN
On November 21st, GOHS Deputy Director Rob Mikell was a special guest on the popular WXIA-TV (11 Alive Atlanta) community service program, Atlanta & Company. Interviewed by Atlanta radio personality, Ryan Cameron, Deputy Director Mikell discussed the importance of wearing your safety belt, every trip, every time. The Click It or Ticket campaign will continue until December 3rd.
WHAT:Buckle Up ! NEWS CONFERENCE announcingstatewideSafety Belt & Child Passenger Safety Seat Enforcement
WHEN:MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2006 News Conference at 1030AM
WHERE:Macy’s Parking Lot at Lenox Square, Under The Great Tree
TIGHTEN YOUR BELT BEFORE AND AFTER THANKSGIVING DINNER
Whether it’s a long trip to Grandma’s house or a cross-town ride to the mall, driving safety should be as much a holiday tradition as the lighting of the Great Tree at Lenox Square or a ride on the Pink Pig at Macy’s. The heavily- traveled Thanksgiving weekend is one of the most dangerous and deadliest times of the year due to low safety belt use.So, Buckle-Up! Every Trip! Every Time! Safety belts are still your best protection!
NEWS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED
Join law enforcement agencies from across the Metro Atlanta Area under the Great Treeat Lenox Square in Buckhead for the Click It Or Ticket News Conference. Traffic safety advocates and educators will support local law enforcement experts for the statewide enforcement kick-off Monday, November 20, 2006at 1030AM.
NOON LIVE-SHOT/PHOTO-OP
News Media Invited:Reporters & photographers can ride-along with law enforcement.. Interview a parent whose loved ones were saved by their safety equipment.. OR, witness an on-site demonstration of the eye-opening “Roll-Over Simulator” as an active backdrop for your noon live-shot. The Georgia Motor Trucking Association NO-ZONE truck will educate motorists how to share the road safely with 18-wheelers.
ENFORCEMENT WAVE COMING
law enforcement agencies will conduct a major wave of high-visibility safety belt checkpoints and concentrated patrol activity from Monday, November 20th through Sunday, December 3rd, 2006.During the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period, drivers found in violation of ’s Primary Safety Belt Law will be ticketed.State law allows enforcement officers to ticket violators by simply observing an unbelted driver or passenger.Nationwide, 55% of all crash fatalities last Thanksgiving were not belted.
BUCKLE-UP EVERY TRIP, EVERY TIME
The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety will present a proclamation from Governor Sonny Perdue declaring the Sunday after Thanksgiving, (the busiest traffic day of the year) as “Drive Safer Sunday.” The proclamation will recognize the highway safety efforts of Road Safe America, anAtlanta-based foundation working to make our highways safer by reducing the number of collisions between large trucks and passenger vehicles.For more information visit us at www.gahighwaysafety.orgor contact Jim Shuler, GOHS Public Affairs at 404-657-9105.
MADD TO “TIE ONE ON FOR SAFETY” This Holiday Season
Holiday Campaign Asks Motorists to Pledge to Drive Safe and Sober
What: Please join us at the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) press conference to kick-off the 20th annual Tie One On for Safety holiday ribbon campaign. This year, MADD Georgia has partnered with local law enforcement agencies as well as Ford Motor Company and has distributed MADD red ribbons to all Ford dealerships in the state.
MADD’s Tie One On for Safety Campaign urges motorists to tie a MADD ribbon to a visible location on their vehicles as a pledge to drive safe and sober and wear their seat belts, and reminds others to do the same. MADD’s signature red ribbons will be handed out to remind motorists to drive safe and sober especially during the holiday season.
When: Thursday November 16, 2006
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Where: Allan Vigil Ford
6790 Mt. Zion Blvd
Morrow, GA
Why: The holidays are among the deadliest times on the road. There are nearly 17,000 alcohol-related traffic fatalities annually. Another half a million are injured each year. In Georgia during Thanksgiving to New Years of 2004, 56% of all traffic fatalities were alcohol related. MADD needs the public’s commitment to drive safe, sober and buckled up in order to save lives and prevent needless injuries due to alcohol-related traffic crashes.
For more information, please contact Kelly Carlson at kcarlson@maddga.org or 404-223-3331
STATE HIGHWAY SAFETY OFFICE PRESENTS SPEED TRAILER More than 500 traffic enforcement officers, highway safety advocates, and elected officials honored this year's nominees at the 6th Annual Governor's Challenge Awards at the Georgia International Convention Center. Every year, the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) presents this prestigious awards event to recognize the dedication of Georgia traffic enforcement officers to reduce impaired and aggressive driving, increase safety belt use, and slow down speeders.
Georgia law enforcement agencies are judged on both the approach and effectiveness of their overall highway safety programs. Agencies are evaluated not just for enforcement initiatives, but for innovative problem solving in their communities, using public information activities and creating departmental policies that support their traffic enforcement campaign efforts. Among the Governor's Challenge Special Category Awards, the Speed Awareness Award is presented to an agency "making notable efforts in addressing the problem of aggressive, excessive, and unlawful speed" The Adel Police Department won the Speed Awareness Award for its work to reduce and deter speeders, making the community a safer place to live and drive.
The Governor’s Challenge is a statewide incentive program designed to award outstanding achievements in traffic safety enforcement and education. The Adel Police Department will be presented with an “Onsite-300” law enforcement “speed-trailer” unit to enhance its local speed reduction program. The portable signage equipment trailer runs on a rechargeable battery and electronically measures and displays the speed of oncoming traffic.With this high visibility speed-trailer, drivers are encouraged to slow down even when no police patrols are around. The trailer makes motorists aware of their own speed while reminding them about the posted speed limit.
The unit presented to Adel Police is even programmed to count cars and conduct an ongoing survey of unsafe speeds for traffic enforcement planning purposes. The Onsite-300 speed-trailer is valued at six thousand dollars and was donated by the Decatur Electronics Company, one of the sponsoring partners of the Annual Governor’s Challenge Awards program.
“Participation in speed campaigns such as the 100 Days of Summer H.E.A.T. has proven that high-visibility enforcement of ’s traffic laws is the key to saving lives and reducing injuries on ’s highways,” said GOHS Director Bob Dallas.“We are proud of the life-saving efforts of the Adel Police Department. Through these ongoing GOHS initiatives, law enforcement agencies are accustomed to working together daily to promote traffic safety. I know that once again this year, Adel PD is motivated and qualified to meet the Governor’s Challenge.”
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