State and Local Law Enforcement Cracking Down on DUI Over Labor Day

Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer and one of the heaviest traveled holiday periods of the year.

State troopers, along with local law enforcement, will be out actively looking for impaired and unsafe drivers this holiday weekend.

The 78 hour Labor Day holiday travel period begins at 6 p.m. this evening and ends at midnight on Labor Day.

State troopers will be on concentrated and high visibility patrols watching for those who are driving impaired or distracted, not wearing seat belts, and other traffic violations that could potentially cause a traffic crash.

The same will be happening in local towns and on state roads where officers will be looking for impaired and unsafe drivers, according to Lavonia Police Captain Michael Schulman.

Lavonia Police, along with local law enforcement in Franklin, Hart, Stephens and Banks counties are joining the Georgia State Patrol in holding random checkpoints and cracking down on motorists not wearing their safety belts or driving under the influence this weekend.

Lavonia Police Captain Michael Schulman says night time driving is the worst time for impaired or unbuckled driving.

“In Georgia rural counties, 60% of traffic fatalities were unrestrained. Additionally, pick-up truck occupants in Georgia have the lowest seat belt usage rates, behind cars, SUVs and Vans. There is no argument that seat belts save lives. Statistics prove it. The numbers are staggering. Over 51% of fatalities in recent years, the occupants were not wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash.”

Last year during the Labor Day travel period, the Georgia State Patrol investigated 650 traffic crashes that resulted in 338 injuries and 10 traffic fatalities.

In addition to traffic crash investigations, troopers arrested 283 people for driving under the influence while issuing 8,604 citations and 15,208 warnings.