Welcome to the unofficial start of summer. Most metro Atlanta schools are letting out this week, and families are making plans for the long weekend.
Georgia is bracing for a busy Memorial Day weekend on the roads and in the water. AAA is predicting more than 34-million Americans will be traveling.
The Georgia State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources and Governor's Office of Highway Safety will be out in force over the holiday weekend, and they will be ready to write tickets or arrest anyone breaking safety laws. They will especially be looking for people who are too impaired to operate a vehicle or a boat.
In 2016, the Georgia Department of Transportation says 12 people died in accidents Memorial Day weekend. More than half of those people killed in traffic crashes in Georgia last year were not wearing a seat belt.
Georgia Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mark McDonough says, "The Memorial Day weekend is always a heavily traveled holiday weekend, and historically one of the deadliest on our roadways."
Many boats will also be on the water for the first time this year this weekend.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources made 182 boating under the influence arrests in Georgia a year ago, and alcohol was cited as a factor in boating incidents that killed 19 people. Overall, the number of drowning's rose from 39 in 2015 to 44 in 2016.
Col. Eddie Henderson, director of DNR's Law Enforcement Division says, "All summer, Game Wardens across the state will be enforcing boating laws on Georgia's waterways, just as troopers will be enforcing driving laws on the highways."
The Summer '17 Safety Tour begins with a stop at Lake Lanier Islands. It will also make stops on Lake Hartwell, Lake Blackshear and West Point Lake.