Tri-State law enforcement officials kick off 'Hands Across the Borders' Campaign

Law enforcement officials from Alabama, Florida and Georgia delivered a warning to the driving public Tuesday morning during a press conference held to kick off the 19th annual “Hands Across the Border” Campaign. If you drive impaired, they will arrest you. If you speed, they will stop you and ticket you. If you fail to wear your seat belt or do not properly install child restraints and car seats, they will cite you.

“Safety is our top priority,” said Andrew Johnson, Florida Law Enforcement Liaison for the Panhandle region. “Every year, every holiday weekend we see too many debilitating injuries and loss of life as a result of impaired driving. Officials from Florida, Alabama and Georgia have dedicated themselves to arresting impaired drivers and saving lives. We will have zero tolerance for impaired driving and speeding.”

“Law enforcement is serious about this,” Major Eddie Johnson of the Florida Highway Patrol said. “We will do the best we can to keep people safe.

“Many lives have been lost or altered forever because of impaired driving. The Florida Highway Patrol will continue to work with local law enforcement and across the borders to encourage more drivers not to get behind the wheel when impaired 

“Make no mistake. Our message is simple. No matter what (type of vehicle) you drive, if we catch you impaired, we will arrest you. No exceptions. No excuses.”

Part of that enforcement effort will include sobriety checkpoints and a saturation of officers on the roadways.

“Our goal is to get drunk drivers off the road,” Major Johnson added.

As a matter of emphasis to drive home his point, Major Johnson noted that Jackson County, site of the Florida Welcome Center that hosted Tuesday’s event, had 62 alcohol-related accidents in 2009. Of those, 44 resulted in alcohol-related injuries and nine resulted in alcohol-related fatalities.

“I don’t think any family can say that what happens on the roadways doesn’t affect them,” Jackson County Sheriff Lou Roberts added.

Capt. Ricky Peak of the Alabama State Troopers says Alabama’s fatality numbers are down this year, and that is a statistic he would like to see continue to drop.

“We’re down 64 fatalities from where we are at this point (in the year) from last year,” said Capt. Peak, who is in charge of the Dothan Post. “This holiday weekend, we will be out in force. We will be looking for speeders, seat belt use, any and everything that can cause an accident.

“We take it seriously. If you have to drive, don’t drink. It could be costly.

“If more people drove right, there would be more people left.”

Added traffic enforcement will go beyond the federal highways and state roadways. Municipalities will also be out in force during the Labor Day weekend.

“We want everyone to enjoy the holiday,” said Greg Benton, chief of the Dothan Police Department. “But we want them to do it safely. We will catch drivers with unsafe practices. We will work to ensure drivers are not drinking, and that drivers are wearing their seat belts. One fatality is one too many. 

Cooperation among the various law enforcement agencies should increase the success of the endeavor.

“It’s a great thing that agencies can come together in a collaborative effort to reduce the accident rate, the injury rate, the fatality rate,” Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes said. “We’d like to see zero tickets, zero arrests, zero fatalities. Our job is to prevent tragedies.”

One way, Sheriff Hughes says, to prevent tragedies is for motorists and their passengers to buckle up.

“We can’t get the point across that seat belts save lives,” Sheriff Hughes said. “I hear people say they don’t want to wear a seat belt, because they are afraid they can’t get out if their car is on fire. I’ve never investigated a traffic accident where a person died in a fire. There is no excuse for not wearing a seat belt. 

Houston County has seen a good trend in recent years, and it is one Sheriff Hughes says needs to continue.

“In 2006 there were 21 deaths on our rural roads,” Sheriff Hughes said. “In 2007 there were 19. In 2008 there were eight. In 2009 there were 10. In 2010 we have had three fatalities so far.”

Motorists, whether they are in automobiles, pickup trucks or SUVs, share the highways with large commercial vehicles. Law enforcement is concerned with the rate of injuries and fatalities associated with crashes involving the large vehicles and the smaller vehicles that share the road.

Capt. Steve Jones, of the Motor Carrier Compliance Office of the Florida Department of Transportation, noted that 78 percent of the fatalities in these collisions are in the smaller vehicles.

“There were 14,000 accidents involving commercial vehicles last year,” Capt. Jones said. “In those cases there were 12,000 injuries and 244 fatalities.”

He noted there were a number of contributing factors.

“Speed, driving aggressively and driving too close were factors,” Capt. Jones said. “But, we are also looking at a passing vehicle driving erratically around the big vehicle.

“Drivers (of smaller vehicles) should always look in the rearview mirror before changing lanes. And, remember, a commercial vehicle has a greater blind side.

“All drivers should focus on the road, pay attention to truck signals and don’t drink and drive. 

In a show of support for the “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest” campaign, 44 law enforcement agencies were represented at Tuesday morning’s press conference. This national crackdown on impaired driving is an effort of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.