‘Belts & Jackets’ Safety Tour lands at Lake Oliver

The “Belts & Jackets” Safety Tour sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety landed at Lake Oliver in Columbus Thursday morning.

With more than one million Georgians predicted to be on the road during the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS), Georgia State Patrol and local law enforcement officers remind everyone to begin every trip by clicking their seat belt. Troopers, sheriff’s deputies and police officers will be enforcing all traffic laws during the extended holiday weekend, including speeding, DUI, distracted driving, and failure to wear a seat belt.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Game Wardens ask everyone heading to their favorite lake, river, or other state waterway to click their life jacket and make sure all children are properly wearing their safety jackets every time they are on the water.  Game Wardens will be patrolling Georgia lakes, rivers and waterways during the holiday weekend where they will be looking to take all impaired vessel operators off the water.

According to preliminary state crash data, 15 people were killed in vehicle crashes during the 2025 Memorial Day Holiday weekend in Georgia that began at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 23 and ended at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 26.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 9,750 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States in 2024 were not wearing seat belts, Federal crash data showed that 56 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in Georgia in 2024 were not wearing seat belts.

Seat belts are the most important piece of safety equipment in every vehicle because all safety features are designed to be most effective when the vehicle occupant is properly wearing their seat belt.  The Memorial Day Holiday weekend will likely be the first time this year many boaters and watercraft operators are on Georgia waterways.

According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, 66 people drowned and 10 people were killed and 92 injured in 122 boating incidents last year in Georgia. Game wardens investigated 19 boating incidents that injured 11 people in the Albany Region in 2025 that included Lake Oliver, Lake Harding and Goat Rock.  Game wardens also made 243 arrests for Boating Under the Influence (BUI) in Georgia last year, including 37 BUI arrests in the Albany Region. Georgia law prohibits persons from operating motor vehicles or watercraft with a Blood-Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level of .08 and higher.