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GEORGIA’S MEMORIAL DAY CRASH PREDICTIONS:
..HUNDREDS MAY BE INJURED IN MORE THAN 2,000 HOLIDAY TRAFFIC CRASHES..
(ATLANTA) Heavy holiday traffic is expected throughout during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. That’s why the Georgia State Patrol and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety are urging drivers to use extra caution during the holiday driving period that begins Friday, May 25th at 6PM and ends at midnight Memorial Day. As Georgians pack-up their cars for the first big vacation trip of the summer, the Department of Public Safety and the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Crash Reporting Unit are releasing another sobering prediction for 2,235 traffic crashes resulting in 989 injuries and 18 traffic deaths.. all within a 78-hour travel period in .
“It’s tragic to report, but during the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend in 2005, each and every one of ’s crash fatalities involved victims who weren’t wearing safety belts,” said Director Bob Dallas of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). “And then last year, nine of the seventeen people who died on roads during the 2006 Memorial Day weekend weren’t wearing seat belts.”
Eight of the Memorial Day holiday weekend deaths last year were alcohol-related.
The good news is, more than 75-percent of passenger vehicle occupants involved in serious crashes nationwide survived when wearing safety belts correctly. “There’s no question. Safety belts are simply your best protection against a deadly encounter with a drunk driver,” said GOHS Director Bob Dallas. “They’re standard equipment. They cost nothing to operate. When you consider the catastrophic health care costs involved in a serious crash, the safetybelt is among the most important lifesaving inventions our time. If it was any simpler it would come in a pill.”
That’s why law enforcement agencies across the state are running roadchecks day and night this Memorial Day to target drivers and passengers who don’t bother to buckle-up. “Motorists should be prepared to encounter these high visibility Click It Or Ticket safety belt checkpoints throughout the holiday weekend as part of the Memorial Day mobilization,” said Director Dallas.
The Memorial Day holiday also marks the beginning of ’s 100 Days of Summer H.E.A.T. speed and aggressive driving initiative. H.E.A.T. stands for Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic. The 100 Days of Summer H.E.A.T. is a multi-jurisdictional highway safety enforcement strategy designed to reduce high-fatality crash-counts during the potentially deadly summer holiday driving period from Memorial Day through the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays.
“Waves of law enforcement patrols, including the Georgia State Patrol and officers from the department’s Motor Carrier Compliance and Capitol Police units, will help us crack down on impaired drivers, unbuckled drivers, and high-speed drivers for the fourth consecutive year,” said Director Dallas. “Our data shows these are the top three causes of fatality crashes on highways, not just on Memorial Day, but throughout the year.”
Georgia’s Highway Safety Director has this final common sense advisory for Memorial Day drivers: “Slow down!” With average gas prices spiking around $3.15 for a gallon of unleaded in Atlanta, motorists should regard speed as a costly formula for higher fines and fuel costs. Besides getting you a ticket, speeding along with jack-rabbit-starts and sudden-stops wastes gas: A lead foot can lower your gas mileage by 5-percent around town and as much as 33-percent at highway speeds. Your car’s fuel efficiency begins to rapidly decrease at speeds over sixty mph.
“So as a rule of thumb,” said Director Dallas, “Every five miles-an-hour you drive over sixty is like paying an additional twenty cents a gallon at the pump!”
“For high-risk drivers who don’t seem to care if speed is a killer on our roads, maybe now it matters if it’s murder on their wallets,” said Dallas. “Driving at the speed limit saves gas. We already know it saves lives. Why not do both this holiday?”
The Memorial Day crash count will be posted on the GSP website at http://dps.georgia.gov and updated every six hours. For more information on H.E.A.T. and Click It Or Ticket visit www.gahighwaysafety,org .. day or night..
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