Highway Patrol to Conduct Operation Drive to Live 2009

 

During the week of February 23-27 the Highway Patrol will be conducting Operation Drive to Live 2009. The operation will be conducted from 6:00 a.m. Monday, through 5:00 p.m. Friday, each day. The operation is an initiative by the Highway Patrol to reduce the number of teenage related traffic collisions in North Carolina.

Traffic collisions are the leading cause of teenage deaths in North Carolina and our nation. In the last four years 554 teenagers have been killed in crashes investigated by the Highway Patrol. Some collisions involving teenage drivers occur during their commute to and from high school and in 2004 North Carolina ranked fifth in the nation total teenage deaths as compared to other states. Speed remains the leading cause of those deaths.

Troopers will be enforcing all traffic laws around the state's schools and conducting traffic safety education programs at the high schools.

A kick-off press event will be held on Monday, February 23, at Clayton High School at 10:00 a.m. Reuben Young, Secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, Dr. June Atkinson, Department of Public Instruction, Colonel Walter J. Wilson, Jr., Commander of the Highway Patrol, Dr. Tony Parker, Superintendent of Johnston County Schools and the parents of Brandon Baker, who was killed in a car crash in Johnston County will speak at the event.

For further information please call Captain Everett Clendenin at 919-733-5027.