Hands Across the Border: August 26-31, 2007 mattmontgomery  at:  1/2/2008   POLICE IN FIVE STATES JOIN GEORGIA LAW ENFORCEMENT..... 16TH “HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER” DUI CAMPAIGN For six days leading up to the Labor Day holiday weekend, local police, sheriff’s deputies, and Georgia State Troopers will take time out from their holiday patrols to line up at State Welcome Centers for photo-ops, handshakes, and highway safety speeches. It’s all part of the Annual Hands Across The Border highway safety awareness campaign.. A tradition now in its sixteenth year of saving lives on state highways and interstates throughout the southeast. Georgia peace officers will join their law enforcement partners from six bordering states in a major mobilization effort coordinated by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to crack down on impaired drivers. “This week-long operation sends an unmistakable message to the motoring public that safe driving doesn’t stop at the state line,” said Director Dallas of the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). “Our traffic laws may come from different books, but we’re all on the same page when it comes to taking drunk drivers off our roads.” “Hands Across The Border means impaired driving laws will be strictly enforced from state-to-state in a seamless effort to save lives during the deadly Labor Day Holiday travel period,” said GOHS Director Dallas. Each year the Hands Across The Border campaign creates an outstanding opportunity for law enforcement officers from adjoining southeastern states to renew their commitment to work with each other to save lives on all our roadways, all year long. Officers from neighboring Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina will meet at Georgia Welcome Centers to conduct ten joint news conferences and media events near the state borders. For sixteen years, the highlight of these media events has been the traditional handshake between law enforcement officers from both sides of the state lines. Police, deputies and State Troopers from neighboring state agencies make their annual pledge of cooperation to work together to reduce crashes, fatalities and serious injuries on our highways. After the speeches and media coverage, officers make blue-light motorcades to the adjoining state’s visitor center to repeat this important pledge. “And this year, the high-profile Hands Across The Border enforcement initiative is scheduled to coincide with the nationwide Labor Day Operation Zero Tolerance impaired driving mobilization, ‘Over The Limit. Under Arrest’,” said GOHS Director Bob Dallas. “This way, officers from adjoining southern states mobilize their combined resources for life-saving multi-state sobriety checkpoints and concentrated patrols.” In 2007, the Hands Across The Border campaign is also part of Georgia’s “One Hundred Days Of Summer HEAT” initiative sponsored by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety to raise awareness about the deadly consequences of speed, aggressive driving, and failure to use safety belts and child restraints. For more information about H.E.A.T., Operation Zero Tolerance and Hands Across The Border, visit the GOHS website at www.gahighwaysafety.org or call your local law enforcement agency and ask how you can make a difference in your community. TO VIEW OTHER GOHS NEWS ITEMS, CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE GOHS HOME PAGE, CLICK HERE         Governor Perdue Announces Additional Driver Education Grants mattmontgomery  at:  1/2/2008   Governor Perdue Announces Additional Grants for Teen Driver Training Driver Education Commission program enables over 17,000 students access to driver training at school ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that 18 additional Georgia public high schools will receive grants totaling $1,915,500 to make driver education more accessible, effective and affordable throughout the state. Earlier this month, $2,184,600 was awarded to 17 public high schools and 110 Georgia libraries to create or expand driver education efforts in their communities. More than 17,500 Georgia students will now have access to driver training at public high schools. Many more will be able to access virtual driver training via their local community libraries. “We need to do everything we can to keep our young drivers safe,” said Governor Perdue. “These grants help make driver education more accessible and affordable for Georgians that are learning how to drive.” Phase II of the Georgia Driver Education Commission grant program provides an additional 18 public high schools funding to educate and train young beginning drivers. Grantees throughout the state are planning a variety of exciting initiatives to establish or improve teen driving education in their communities. The schools selected include: Effingham County High School Charlton County High School Clarke County High School Coffee County Board of Education Dade County High School Forsyth County High School Gilmer County Schools Gordon Lee High School Harris County High School Jenkins County School System Jones County High School Lumpkin County High School Pickens County High School Rabun County High School South Effingham High School Tattnall County High School White County High School Webster County Board of Education Grant Administration The Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) administers the grant application and selection process. A grant review committee established a point system for the evaluation of applications. Applicants must demonstrate effective ways to meet high school students’ needs and motivation to learn and subsequently drive safely through the offering and managing of the Department of Driver Services (DDS) approved driver training methods. Schools, school districts, or multiple schools are allowed to submit a joint or single grant application. Public schools are allowed to propose partnerships with one another, as well as to propose partnerships with for-profit and not-for-profit driver training schools to offer and manage DDS approved driver training methods.For more information on Georgia teen driver education, please visit www.georgiateendrivereducation.com. TO VIEW MORE GOHS NEWS ITEMS, CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE GOHS HOME PAGE, CLICK HERE         Operation Zero Tolerance Labor Day Kickoff on August 17th mattmontgomery  at:  1/2/2008   LABOR DAY DUI-BUI KICK-OFF AT LAKE ALLATOONA! WHAT: JOINT GOHS-DNR NEWS CONFERENCE to kick-off Labor Day Impaired Driving/Boating Crackdown during the Holiday Travel Period WHEN: FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2007, OZT NEWS CONFERENCE at 10:00AM WHERE: Bethany Bridge Boat Ramp, Red Top Mountain State Park WHO: Officers from the MATEN, NETEN, MATEN II, and ATTEN GOHS Traffic Enforcement Networks join DNR-WRD Rangers, Georgia State Patrol, TEAM Georgia and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) OPERATION ZERO TOLERANCE: OVER THE LIMIT. UNDER ARREST OPERATION ZERO TOLERANCE (OZT) is a statewide enforcement initiative to raise driver awareness to the deadly consequences of drunk driving. Impaired drivers cause one-out-of-five fatality crashes on Georgia highways each year. Drivers who violate Georgia’s DUI laws will go to jail! If you’re Over The Limit–you’re Under Arrest. DRIVE SAFE. BOAT SAFE. BE SAFE THIS LABOR DAY Responsible driving and boating should be as much a holiday tradition as a family trip to the lake.. And just as safe! The heavily-traveled Labor Day holiday can be a dangerous time on our highways and waterways. So Drive Sober and Buckle-Up! Safety belts are still your best protection against an encounter with a drunk driver on the road, just as life jackets are your best protection while boating. Law enforcement agencies encourage Georgians who plan to party, to plan FIRST for a designated boater or designated driver. OZT NEWS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED Join law enforcement agencies from across Metro Atlanta and North Georgia at the Bethany Bridge Boat Ramp at Red Top Mountain State Park for the Operation Zero Tolerance Labor Day News Conference Friday, August 17, 2007 at 10:00AM. DIRECTIONS From Atlanta, take I-75 North, go 35 miles to Red Top Mtn Rd., Exit 285. Turn (Right) at the exit onto Red Top Mtn Rd toward Red Top Mtn State Park. Go 1.2 miles and cross the Bethany Bridge over Lake Allatoona. After crossing the bridge, take an immediate (Left) to the Bethany Bridge Boat Ramp. NEWS MEDIA INVITED Photo-ops: Reporters & photographers can ride-along on Lake Allatoona with enforcement officers from the Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division.. Interview a speaker from MADD-Georgia whose life was changed forever by a drunk driver.. OR, ride-along in a patrolcar after the news conference. OZT ENFORCEMENT WAVE FOLLOWS During “OZT” Georgia law enforcement agencies will conduct a wave of joint high-visibility sobriety checkpoints throughout the state from Friday, August 17, through Monday, September 3, 2007 to catch DUI-drivers and boaters to protect the public on our highways and waterways during the last holiday of the summer. TO VIEW OTHER GOHS NEWS ITEMS, CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE GOHS HOME PAGE, CLICK HERE         511 Phone Service Provides Traffic Information mattmontgomery  at:  1/2/2008   Georgia Launches 511 Traffic Information Service More than $231 million invested in city streets and county roads over two years ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Department of Transportation today launched Georgia 511, a new statewide phone service providing free traffic and travel information to commuters and travelers. “We continue to look for ways to make state government more accessible and customer friendly,” said Governor Perdue, who officially declared Georgia 511 open for business. “The new Georgia 511 service will connect motorists to information needed to avoid a construction zone, find a destination or discover a way around a traffic jam.” Georgia 511 provides an extensive menu of options available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Callers connect to the system by simply dialing 5-1-1 from any landline or mobile phone. The service provides statewide traffic conditions, route-specific information and details on road or lane closures due to construction, incidents or weather. Estimated travel times are available for major roads within the metro-Atlanta area. Additionally, connections are available to transit providers, major airports, rideshare organizations, tourism information and 511 systems in neighboring states. An automated voice recognition system guides callers through the service. Callers can also access live operators at the Transportation Management Center to report accidents, request HERO assistance or obtain additional information. “This state-of-the-art system will benefit travelers from across the state as well as those traveling to our state,” said Georgia DOT Commission Harold Linnenkohl, who hosted today’s launch event with Governor Perdue at GDOT’s Transportation Management Center in Southeast Atlanta. “While the technology behind the system is highly advanced, callers will experience a simple, user-friendly service that will be a model to the rest of the nation.” Georgia 511 has launched a companion website at www.511ga.org and a toll-free number for callers from outside the state, 1-877-MYGA511. TO VIEW OTHER GOHS NEWS ITEMS, CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE GOHS HOME PAGE, CLICK HERE         2007 National Labor Day Impaired Driving Crackdown Planner Now Available mattmontgomery  at:  1/2/2008   Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. In 2005, nearly 13,000 people died in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. The picture for motorcycle operators is particularly bleak. Forty-one percent of the 1,878 motorcycle operators who died in single-vehicle crashes in 2005 had BAC levels of .08 or higher. That is why GOHS has announced they will be joining with thousands of other law enforcement and highway safety agencies across the nation from August 17 throughout the Labor Day holiday to take part in the Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. crackdown on impaired driving. “Make no mistake. Our message is simple. No matter what you drive—a passenger car, pickup, sport utility vehicle or motorcycle—if we catch you driving impaired, we will arrest you. No exceptions. No excuses,” said GOHS Director Bob Dallas. We will be out in force conducting sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and using undercover officers to get more drunk drivers off the road—and save lives that might otherwise be lost. “Driving with a BAC of .08 or higher is illegal in every state. Yet we continue to see far too many people suffer debilitating injuries and loss of their loved ones as a result of impaired driving. This careless disregard for human life must stop. To help ensure that happens, GOHS is dedicated to helping law enforcement apprehend impaired drivers wherever and whenever found,” said Director Dallas. “Drunk driving is simply not worth the risk. Not only do you risk killing yourself or someone else, but the trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest for impaired driving can be significant,” said Dallas. “Violators often face jail time, the loss of their driver’s license, higher insurance rates, attorney fees, time away from work, and dozens of other expenses. “So don’t take the chance. Remember, if you are over the limit, you are under arrest.” The national Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. impaired driving crackdown is a prevention program organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that focuses on combining high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity. This year’s effort is supported by $11 million in paid-national advertising to help put everyone on notice that if they are caught driving impaired, they will be arrested. For more information and to get the Labor Day Crackdown Kit, visit www.StopImpairedDriving.org. TO VIEW OTHER GOHS NEWS ITEMS, CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE GOHS HOME PAGE, CLICK HERE    First Page   Prev. Page   Next Page   Last Page

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