24th annual Hands Across the Border kicks off today

Rossville, GA (WDEF) – For 24 years now Georgia State Patrol has joined forces with Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Alabama to kick off their Hands Across the Boarder Campaign.

"We believe that traffic safety doesn’t stop at the city limits or the county line or even the state line, it’s something all of us are agreeing upon," said Harris Blackwood, Director of the Georgia Governor’s office of highway safety.

For the next few days, leading up to Labor Day weekend, officers will be setting up check points to crack down on drunk driving, distracted driving and wearing seat belts around the holiday. "We wanna make sure that this is a safe weekend, " said Blackwood, "We’ve had an increased number of fatalities in Georgia. We want that number to come down, not for the sake of numbers, but we want to see lives saved this weekend."

As of now, Georgia is 82 fatalities ahead of their record this time last year, which officials say is already too many. "Those are 82 families whose lives have been changed forever," said Blackwood, "And most often, most often it’s avoidable."

"We want everybody to have a good time, but to get home safe and nobody injured or killed in car crashes," said Captain Grady Sanford, troop commander.

This campaign has a history of not only catching drunk drivers, but drug offenders, unlicensed and uninsured drivers, fugitives and drivers without outstanding warrants.