VALDOSTA — Law enforcement officers issued hundreds of traffic citations in Lowndes and Cook counties during a recent five-day enforcement and education campaign.

The effort was made possible through the Georgia Targeting Aggressive Cars and Trucks Program.

Law enforcement officers with the Georgia State Patrol, Department of Public Safety Motor Carrier Compliance Division, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and Cook County Sheriff’s Office focused on risky driving behavior around commercial motor vehicles.

“Law enforcement officers from the participating agencies worked extremely well together,” Public Safety Commissioner Col. Bill Hitchens was quoted as saying in a press release. “This made for a very smooth campaign.”

During the five-day event, authorities had 1,180 total contacts with drivers along that stretch of Interstate 75 between Lowndes and Cook counties. They issued 639 citations and 311 warnings and conducted 230 safety inspections, according to the same press release. Also, safety inspections conducted on commercial trucks found 147 equipment violations and 434 driver violations, the release stated.

“The equipment and driver violations were serious enough that commercial vehicle inspectors issued out-of-service orders for 28 drivers and 14 vehicles,” Hitchens added.

Hitchens said authorities also discovered serious violations such as one driving under the influence violation in a commercial vehicle, two possessions of alcohol in a commercial vehicle, one concealed weapon, nine drivers operating on a suspended license and two arrests of people on outstanding misdemeanor warrants.

Other citations issued during the week included 238 for speeding, 26 for following too closely, 19 for improper lane change, four for improper passing, and 182 seatbelt violations. The four improper passing citations, along with 14 of the following too closely and 14 of the improper lane change citations were issued to commercial motor vehicle drivers.

The GTACT campaign is a statewide safety initiative to increase awareness of dangers motorists face when they practice hazardous driving behaviors, particularly around commercial motor vehicles. The program combines educational outreach with traffic enforcement to reduce the number of crashes between commercial vehicles and smaller vehicles.

The campaign was advertised on billboards along I-75. At least one commercial truck from Valdosta Technical College was also wrapped with the campaign’s logo, which asks people to “Leave More Space For Trucks” when passing.

Valdosta Technical College’s Commercial Driving Program Director Mike White said he was more than happy to participate in this effort, especially since he encounters aggressive drivers on the road all the time.

“What motorists fail to realize is that commercial trucks do not operate the same as smaller vehicles,” White said. “We (truckers) ask that motorists leave more space when passing trucks because it takes a truck longer to decelerate its speed.”

Commercial motor vehicle crashes with passenger vehicles account for an average of 15 percent of Georgia highway fatalities each year, according to the Department of Public Safety. In these fatal crashes, almost 90 percent of the people killed are occupants of the smaller vehicle.



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