Published Monday, November 23, 2009
Expect increased holiday patrols
The Newnan Times-Herald
Wednesday, and the Sunday after Thanksgiving, are expected to be heavy travel days, and local law enforcement officers will be out in force to keep motorists safe this holiday season.
"Slow down, leave early and have a designated driver, please," said Sgt. Lance Greene, commander of the Georgia State Patrol Newnan Post. "Every on-duty trooper in the state will be working the roadways."
Lt. John LaChance of the Coweta County Sheriff's Office offered similar warnings.
"We're going to be on the interstates, the state routes, the county roads -- we're going to be everywhere, along with the Georgia State Patrol," said LaChance.
LaChance said sheriff's deputies will be watching to ensure motorists wear their seatbelts, and that they aren't speeding or driving drunk. Another major cause of accidents is distracted drivers. LaChance said police are looking for drivers who are reading or texting with cell phones. Studies suggest that texting could be as dangerous, if not more so, than driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) announced this week that a statewide safety seatbelt crackdown has begun in hopes of reducing the number of fatal accidents during the oftentimes deadly Thanksgiving travel period. Motorists should expect high visibility enforcement during the Thanksgiving travel period.
"It's not about raising revenue, it's about raising survival rates on our roadways," said GOHS Director Bob Dallas.
This year, law enforcement is initiating a special enforcement campaign aimed at cracking down on the state's "country roads." Deadly crashes on country roads account for more than half of all Georgia traffic fatalities. Crash data shows Georgia's rural roads are more dangerous than busy interstates.
"We're participating in the seatbelt blitz through the New Year and giving a little extra enforcement effort to seatbelts," said Greene. "It's for everybody's safety. Based on my experience year after year, you always come out better with a seatbelt on."
AAA projects 38.4 million Americans will travel a distance of 50 miles or more away from home throughout Thanksgiving weekend, a 1.4 percent increase over last year when 37.8 million traveled for the holiday.
Georgia is projected to show a 3 percent increase in overall travel versus 2008. Georgians encountered 3,815 crashes as they drove during the November holiday last year. Nineteen Georgians died over the 102-hour Thanksgiving travel period last year. Another 1,457 were injured, according to GOHS.
LaChance said the sheriff's office is going into "strong enforcement mode" this holiday season to keep the numbers of fatalities down. Five years ago, Coweta County saw 36 fatalities in one year. That number has been steadily decreasing. This year, there have been seven fatalities.
"Our goal this year was for no more than 10," said LaChance. "Ideally, we'd say zero, but that's not realistic. Our goal was 10 last year, and we had 12. We're ecstatic with our low number for the year -- we want to keep it there and set a new record.
"This is the busiest time of year for us -- we have had eight fatalities in October alone before, but, so far this year we're at zero for October and November," he added.
Greene warns motorists to be careful and alert, especially on Black Friday when early holiday shoppers will be out.
"We saw a slight increase in the number of accidents last year -- folks get in a hurry and want to be first in line," said Greene. "We'll have extra units out, but we ask motorists to exercise caution that morning, especially at shopping centers, such as Ashley Park."
"Give yourself some extra time," LaChance added. "If you've got to be somewhere at 9, don't leave at 8:45."
