(ATLANTA) – The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has announced that the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is one of 21 law enforcement agencies in Georgia to receive a Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic grant for the Federal 2023 Fiscal Year. Referred to as a H.E.A.T. grant, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office award totals $90,620.86.
The goal of the H.E.A.T. program is to combat crashes, injuries and fatalities caused by impaired driving and speeding, while also increasing seatbelt use and educating the public about traffic safety and the dangers of DUI.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office H.E.A.T Unit will use the grant from GOHS to develop and implement strategies to reduce local traffic crashes due to aggressive and dangerous driving behaviors.
“The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is working with our highway safety partners to reverse the increase in traffic deaths we have seen in the United States in the last two years and the goal of this project is to prevent crashes and save lives on our roads, “ Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said. “ We ask everyone to join the mission of saving lives on our roads by driving the speed limit, wearing your seat belt, staying off the phone when driving, and never driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”
H.E.A.T. grants fund specialize traffic enforcement units in counties throughout the state. The program was designed to assist Georgia jurisdictions with the highest rates of traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities with grants awarded based on impaired driving and speeding data.
Bibb Sheriff David Davis said, “We are very proud to once again be a recipient of the HEAT grant through the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The community outreach and enforcement actions of the dedicated deputies who are a part of the HEAT team help us to keep those who travel our roadways safer by impacting those who speed and drive impaired.”
As law enforcement partners in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over DUI campaign and the Click It Or Ticket seatbelt campaigns, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office will also conduct mobilizations throughout the year in coordination with GOHS’s year-round waves of high visibility patrols, multi-jurisdictional road checks and sobriety checkpoints.
For more information about the H.E.A.T. program or any other GOHS campaign, visit www.gahighwaysafety.org or call 404-656-6996.