ATLANTA — “Drive sober or get pulled over” is the warning from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to drivers across Georgia ahead of the holiday weekend.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, Georgia State Troopers and local authorities made nearly 500 DUI arrests during the Independence Day weekend in 2025.
Deputy Director Maurice Raines said state and local law enforcement will be out in force over the holiday weekend, focusing on drivers who break traffic laws.
“That is looking for those that decide to speed,” Raines said. “Those that drive impaired, those that drive reckless, those that are not buckled, those that are distracted.”
The goal is to help save lives and prevent crashes during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
“As families and friends gather to celebrate Independence Day, we ask everyone traveling on Georgia’s roads to make safety their top priority,” said Colonel William W. Hitchens III, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety. “Our GSP Troopers and CVE Officers will be working around the clock to enforce traffic laws, ensuring everyone reaches their destinations safely.”
Officials said 37% of people killed in crashes in Georgia during the July 4th period from 2020 to 2024 involved a drunk driver.
Last year, state troopers also conducted about 320 crash investigations, officials said. Those crashes resulted in nearly 200 injuries and 10 fatalities. Local law enforcement agencies investigated an additional five traffic fatalities statewide.
AAA projects more than 2.4 million Georgians will travel at least 50 miles from their home during the Independence Day holiday period between June 27 through July 5.
AAA said the total includes travel by air, road and rail and out of those travelers, more than 2.1 million are expected to travel by car.
To combat impaired driving, AAA spokeswoman Montrae Waiters said AAA is activating its Tow to Go program in Georgia from 6 p.m. Friday, July 3 through 6 a.m. Monday, July 6.
The confidential service is free to AAA members and non-members and provides a ride for an impaired driver and their vehicle within a 10-mile radius.
Drivers are also being reminded of Georgia’s Hands Free Law, which prohibits motorists from holding a cell phone while operating a vehicle, even when stopped at a red light.
“Don’t drive distracted. Here in the state of Georgia, this is a no handheld phones state,” Waiters said. “Even sitting stopped at a red light, sometimes that moment you take to look down at your phone, the light has turned green, the person behind you is probably not paying attention, and you are looking at a possible collision.”
WSB Radio’s Miles Montgomery contributed to this story.
