The Campus Police Department at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) in the “Operation Southern Slow Down” campaign this week until July 24.
Law enforcement agencies in the five participating southeastern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee will collaborate and conduct enforcement on interstates and state highways to decrease the number of drivers exceeding the legal limit. The UTHSC Campus Police Department will be running radar in the Memphis Medical District during the campaign.
“We wanted to bring awareness to those that are speeding in the area to slow it down, not just for their safety, but also for the safety of our faculty, staff, students, and visitors that are commuting within the medical district area,” said Campus Police Captain Joanne Morrow.
The “Operation Southern Slow Down” speed enforcement and education campaign began in 2017 to reduce speed-related crashes and fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there has been an increase in overall traffic fatalities and speed-related traffic deaths in the United States in the past two years.
In Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee, the number of fatalities in speed-related crashes increased by 14 percent in 2020 in comparison to the previous year. In the last two years, law enforcement agencies throughout the nation have seen a significant rise in the number of vehicles traveling at speeds above 100 miles per hour.