Summer 2010 marks the seventh consecutive season that police will roll out waves of enforcement patrols across 159 Georgia counties, cracking down on dangerous, aggressive and high-speed drivers. The 100 Days of Summer Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (H.E.A.T.) campaign is a multi-jurisdictional highway safety enforcement strategy designed to reduce high-fatality crash-counts during Georgia’s potentially deadly holiday driving periods that run from Memorial Day through Labor Day. This busy Fourth of July travel period marks the midpoint of this annual traffic safety initiative.

“After six previous summers of this high-visibility enforcement campaign in Georgia, the ‘100 Days of Summer H.E.AT’ now joins the buckled safetybelt on the GOHS list of proven life-saving counter-measures,” said Director Bob Dallas of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). “Waves of law enforcement patrols including police, sheriff’s deputies, State Troopers and State Motor Carrier Compliance officers will help us focus attention on the high-speed motorists, the impaired motorists, and the texting motorists who make roadways dangerous for the safe drivers of Georgia.”

This year, Georgia’s H.E.A.T. enforcement began in mid-May to round-up traffic offenders during the Memorial Day holiday.

“Now during the July 4 holiday period, GOHS continues one of the longest, toughest and most ambitious Summer H.E.A.T. highway safety initiatives ever launched in this state,” Dallas said. “H.E.A.T. means citations for speeding and aggressive driving.. H.E.A.T. means tickets for failing to buckle-up kids and seatbelts.. And jail time for drunk and drugged driving.”



Safety experts regard Speeding as a high-risk behavior behind the wheel, right along with texting and DUI. National research shows Georgia drivers among the highest illegal speeders in the country. Despite advancements in vehicle safety and passenger protection, national crash data shows a continuous increase in the number of deaths and injuries attributed to speed since 1995.

“Georgia highway safety data shows speed, impaired driving, and unbuckled motorists are still the top three causes of fatality crashes, not just during the July 4 holiday, but throughout the year,” Dallas said.

On average, there’s a speed-related death-a-day in Georgia.

During the 100 Days of Summer H.E.A.T. police officers will be enforcing the state’s Super Speeder Law that took effect January 2010 to help put the brakes on Georgia’s high-risk speeders. The Super Speeder Law tacks on additional $200 state-fines for drivers convicted of speeding at 75 mph-or-more on any two-lane roads or speeding 85-and-over anywhere in Georgia.

“These Super Speeder fines are designed to reform high-speed behavior behind the wheel and help us save precious lives and reduce serious injury on Georgia roadways,” Dallas said.

For more information on this lifesaving GOHS initiative, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org.