“Hands Across the Border” drunk and drugged driving campaign stops in Valdosta
VALDOSTA, Ga. – Law enforcement in Georgia and Florida working to stop drunk and drugged driving in their respective states
WHEN: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Quail Branch Lodge
7601 Zeigler Road
Lake Park, GA 31636
WHAT: The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) is joining the Georgia State Patrol, GOHS Southern Region Traffic Enforcement Network, Florida Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies to conduct sobriety road checks at the Georgia/Florida state line on Tuesday evening during the week-long “Hands Across the Border” drunk and drugged driving prevention campaign. State and local law enforcement agencies in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee will conduct sobriety roadchecks in their respective states to send the message prior to the extended Labor Day Holiday weekend that all five states have zero tolerance for drunk and drugged driving. It is against the law in Georgia to operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration level (BAC) of .08 or higher. “Hands Across the Border” began in 1991 when Georgia State Patrol troopers in southeast Georgia joined their counterparts at the Florida Highway Patrol in northeast Florida to reduce an increase in drunk driving deaths in the area with enhanced enforcement. The campaign quickly expanded to include all states neighboring Georgia within ten years. “Hands Across the Border” takes place during the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” high-visibility enforcement campaign that began on August 15 and runs through September 2.
WHY: All drunk driving deaths are completely preventable because all drunk driving crashes are caused by someone who made the decision to drive after drinking. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 36 percent of the people killed in traffic crashes in the United States during the 2023 Labor Day holiday weekend involved at least one alcohol-impaired driver with a BAC limit of .08 or above. More than 60 percent of the impaired drivers killed in crashes during the 2023 Labor Day holiday weekend in the United States had a BAC that was almost twice the legal limit. In Georgia, 11 of the 25 people killed in crashes during the 2023 Labor Day holiday weekend involved at least one driver whose BAC was .08 or higher. From 2019-2023, 40 percent of the people killed in traffic crashes in Georgia during the Labor Day holiday weekend involved a driver with a BAC of .08 or higher.
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