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The campaign will kick off Monday with news conferences involving highway safety leaders and law enforcement in Augusta, Columbus, Savannah, East Ridge, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Fla. State and local law enforcement officers will spend the remainder of the week targeting speeding and aggressive driving on interstates and major highways in the five states.

Speeding is an aggressive and deadly behavior that endangers not only the speeding driver but all motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists on the road, police officials said. Driving at faster speeds reduces the vehicle operatorÐÔÊӽ紫ý ability to steer safely around another vehicle, object on the road or traveling through a curve in the roadway. Speeding also increases the chances of being in a crash because faster speeds will increase the time for a vehicle to stop if the operator has to brake suddenly.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the number of people killed in speeding-related crashes in Georgia increased by almost 35 percent over a five-year period. In 2023, 349 people died in crashes involving at least one speeding driver in Georgia compared to 260 people killed in crashes involving at least one speeding driver in Georgia in 2019. Speeding was a factor in one out of five traffic deaths in Georgia from 2019 to 2023.

According to NHTSAÐÔÊӽ紫ý Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 1,604 people were killed in crashes involving speeding in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee in 2023. This is a 13 percent increase from 2019 when 1,418 people died in crashes involving speeding in these five southeastern states. Speeding was a factor in one out of five persons killed in crashes in the southeast from 2019 through 2023.

“Speeding threatens the lives of everyone on the road and that is why Georgia and our neighbors are sending the message that illegal and dangerous driving behaviors will not be tolerated,â€� said Allen Poole, Director of the Georgia GovernorÐÔÊӽ紫ý Office of Highway Safety. “The goal of ‘Operation Southern Slow Down’ is to not write tickets but for motorists to put safety first by choosing to drive at slower and safer speeds.â€�

In Georgia, state troopers, sheriffÐÔÊӽ紫ý deputies and police officers handed out 12,544 citations and warnings during “Operation Southern Slow Downâ€� in 2024, including 8900 citations and warnings for speeding. State and local law enforcement last year also arrested 446 people for driving under the influence and issued 1,231 citations and warnings for distracted driving during the seven-day campaign in Georgia.

State and local officers issued 62,258 citations and warnings during the 2024 “Operation Southern Slow Down� in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina and Tennessee, including 49,558 citations and warnings for speeding.

“Operation Southern Slow Downâ€� began in 2017 when highway safety leaders in the region wanted to reduce crashes and save lives by reminding motorists of the danger speeding poses to all roadway users. The campaign now takes place during NHTSAÐÔÊӽ紫ý “Speeding Slows You Downâ€� education and enforcement campaign that runs from July 7-31. Drivers will see more law enforcement on the road during both campaigns and drivers who are stopped for speeding can expect to get a ticket.

NHTSA and Region IV states offer the following tips for those traveling on the same road with speeding drivers:

♦ Give speeding drivers plenty of space

♦ If speeding drivers are following too closely, allow them to pass

♦ Stay out of the far-left lane unless it is passing another vehicle

♦ Always wear a seat belt