The Florida Highway Patrol is partnering up with southeastern states and local law enforcement to reduce crashes.
The Highway patrol will increase enforcement of traffic violations in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. Captain Jeffrey Bissainthe from FHP says local law enforcement will be highly visible.
“We want to bring an awareness to traffic safety issues and try and increase the effort as far as traffic violations. We want to help to ensure that all motorists arrive alive to their destinations and they’re doing the right things,” he says.
Bissainthe wants drivers to obey the speed limits, avoid texting while driving, and always wear their seatbelts.
“In 2016, 42% of people who were killed in crashes had a safety belt, but they chose not to wear their safety belts,” he says.
Bissainthe says law enforcement will be cracking down on dangerous driving this week.
“We’re going to be doing selective enforcement details, which in turn deals with speed— ensuring that people are obeying the speed limits. And also ensuring that people are buckling up, and also to try and combat distracted driving,” he says.
Bissainthe says texting while driving has become one of the most deadly distractions for drivers, and troopers will be especially vigilant for this violations starting July 17th. He says local and state law enforcement will have highly visible traffic enforcement on Florida’s roads, especially in areas where fatal and serious bodily injury crashes are most frequent.