‘Operation Southern Slow Down’ is underway across the area this week, as law enforcement officials in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina aim to reduce speeding across the southern states.
Departments from city and county level to state highway patrols in all of the aforementioned are voluntarily participating in the ‘Operation Southern Slow Down’.
Law enforcement will be especially looking out for excessive speeding — those going well above the posted speed limits — during the operation.
Participating agencies hope that drivers will take time to be more cautious while on the roads as the effort is intended to cut down on crashes, injuries, and fatalities caused by speeding.
According to a press release for the effort, speed was a factor in 29% of total traffic fatalities in the United States in 2020, a 3% increase from the previous year. The number of people killed in crashes involving speeding increased by 17 percent in 2020.
In Tennessee, a study by the Tennessee Highway Patrol also from 2020 revealed that crashes due to speeding were four times more likely to be fatal than those of non-speeding crashes.
‘Operation Southern Slow Down’ began on Monday and will continue through Sunday, July 23rd.
