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Crisp deputies, GSP troopers will arrest aggressive or drunk drivers

Georgia’s 18th annual 100 Days of Summer H.E.A.T. (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic) campaign, which began on Memorial Day and runs through Labor Day, is a multi-jurisdictional highway safety program created by the Georgia Office of Highway Safety to reduce fatal crash counts during Georgia’s deadly holiday driving period from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Georgia State Patrol troopers and County Sheriffs deputies are operating the safety drive in every county on the lookout for unsafe motorists from drunk drivers and aggressive speeders to distracted drivers who text behind the wheel.

H.E.A.T. started in Georgia in 2004, and kicks off each year to coincide with the national kickoff of the Memorial Day “Click It or Ticket” seatbelt campaign. The national combination means local police, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers can work together to get some of Georgia’s most dangerous offenders off the road.

Because H.E.A.T. is an enforcement campaign, speeders will be cited. Those who fail to properly buckle safety belts for you or that of a child, you will be cited. And we can guarantee that if you’re cited for drunk driving, you’ll go straight to jail.

Coinciding with the 100 Days of H.E.A.T., the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety launched the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign used during high-travel holidays like July 4th, Labor Day and Christmas/New Year’s (in addition to popular drinking occasions like the Super Bowl, St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo) to reinforce the message that we are a zero tolerance state. If you’re over the limit, you’ll be under arrest.

In 2019 in Georgia, there were 353 traffic fatalities (out of 1,491) that involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. That’s down from 379 alcohol-involved fatalities out of 1,540 in 2018. Those 353 alcohol-involved fatalities accounted for 24 percent of Georgia’s 1,491 total traffic fatalities in 2019.