- August 21, 2024
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The Florida Department of Transportation announced the start of Operation Southern Slow Down 2024, a week-long speed enforcement and education campaign, during a press conference at the Daytona International Speedway on Monday, July 15.
The campaign, conducted in partnership with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and its division of the Florida Highway Patrol, is part of a broader effort involving multiple states in the Southeast — Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee — with a collective aim to reduce the number of speed-related crashes and bring the number of traffic fatalities down to zero, according to a press release.
“Operation Southern Slow Down represents our collective vision towards creating a safer, fatality-free future on our roadways — one that goes beyond our engineering countermeasures and addresses the driver behaviors, like speeding, that place all road users at risk,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared W. Perdue. “FDOT is proud to partner with Florida’s law enforcement agencies, as well as our neighboring states, to remind motorists that their actions have real, life-changing consequences and that we all play a role in creating a safer driving environment for everyone.”
FDOT reports that speeding contributed to nearly 10% of traffic fatalities statewide between 2019 and 2023. A total of 84% of speeding-involved fatalities involved male drivers, mainly those between the ages of 16 and 25.
"These statistics underscore the critical need for targeted enforcement and education campaigns like Operation Southern Slow Down to address dangerous driver behaviors like speeding and the tragic consequences they have on our roadways," FDOT stated in its press release.
The campaign also emphasizes the importance of public education in changing driver behavior.
FDOT issued the following tips for safe driving:
