Georgia Police Increasing DUI Enforcement for Labor Day Weekend

As the season winds down and end-of-summer celebrations ramp up, authorities throughout Georgia are launching a crackdown on drunken driving.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety announced Friday that police, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers will be aggressively looking to pull over and arrest impaired drivers from now through the Labor Day weekend.

State officials say 298 people were killed in highway crashes that were alcohol-related in Georgia in 2010. That was roughly one-fourth of all traffic deaths in the state.

Harris Blackwood, director of the Highway Safety office, says crackdowns targeting drunk drivers can help reduce alcohol-related crashes by up to 20 percent.

If you have plans for the Labor Day holiday weekend, please make part of your plan arrangements to avoid drinking alcohol and driving.

Oftentimes when law enforcement makes DUI the focus of their patrols, they err on the side of arresting people who may have had something to drink, but are not truly impaired by alcohol. Don’t get yourself in that situation. In the same manner that a fisherman might throw out a much bigger net in their desire to catch tuna, they may snare a few dolphins as a result. The best way to avoid being caught in their net is to have a plan in advance.

The lawyers at Hawkins Spizman Fortas in Atlanta, Georgia, and at duinewsblog.org hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!