ATLANTA — A campaign this week is encouraging drivers in Georgia and across the south, to slow down.

The “Operation Southern Slow Down” speed awareness and enforcement campaign is in its eighth year in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Local highway safety leaders in these states will conduct “concentrated enforcement on interstates and major highways.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that 12,151 people were killed in crashes involving speeding in the United States in 2022, according to the most recent data available. That is a 28% increase from the 9,592 people killed in crashes involving speeding in the U.S. in 2019.

In Georgia, the number of passengers who died in crashes involving speeding increased by 56% from 2018 to 2022, according to the NHTSA.

“Crash data shows speeding is a growing problem in our nation but team efforts like ‘Operation Southern Slow Down’ will help put the brakes on this dangerous behavior that threatens the safety of everyone traveling on our highways and roads,” said Allen Poole, Director of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

“State troopers and local law enforcement officers enforce speed limits to save lives and drivers can help make sure they and everyone traveling on the road safely reach their destination by slowing down, buckling up and keeping their focus on the road at all times.”

The NHTSA shared the following safety reminders:

• Faster speeds require longer to stop a vehicle
• The stopping distance quadruples every time a driver doubles their speed.
• Allow more stopping time for bigger vehicles when traveling downhill on wet or uneven pavement
• Check speedometer when approaching a curve. Apply the brakes before the curve.
• Remember, children will usually drive in the manner they see adults. Set a good example by driving at the speed limit.
• Traveling on the same road with speeding drivers
• Give speeding drivers plenty of space
• If speeding drivers are following too closely, allow them to pass
• Stay out of the far-left lane unless it is passing another vehicle
• Always wear a seat belt