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DPS targeting drunk drivers
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ATLANTA—The law enforcement divisions of the Georgia Department of Public Safety are watching for impaired drivers during patrols through Labor Day.

Col. Bill Hitchens, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, said Georgia State troopers and officers in the Department’s Motor Carrier Compliance and Capitol Police Services divisions are participating with other law enforcement officers across the country in the national Labor Day mobilization of “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.”

Hitchens said state troopers and DPS officers are teaming with local police officers and sheriffs’ deputies for impaired driving roadchecks throughout the two-week period that ends on Labor Day.  

“People know driving impaired is illegal, yet they still take their chances by driving,” he said. “Impaired driving crashes can be prevented if drivers will take the initiative to not drink and drive.”

The commissioner said on the average one person is killed every 39 minutes across the nation in a traffic crash involving a vehicle driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher.  In Georgia, roughly one-third of the traffic deaths each year are related to an impaired driver.

Included in the two-week impaired driving mobilization is the 78-hour Labor Day holiday travel period that begins Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. and ends midnight on Labor Day.

Motorists may report suspected impaired drivers to the nearest post of the Georgia State Patrol by calling Star G-S-P (*477) on their cell phone.  The call is free.

In Georgia, the national impaired driving mobilization is being coordinated by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety as Operation Zero Tolerance.