Georgia's Click It or Ticket and 100 Days of Summer H.E.A.T. (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic) seems to have cut the number of traffic deaths this past Memorial Day holiday period.

On May 17, the Deputy Director of the Governors Office of Highway Safety, Spencer Moore, announced the crackdown as a warning to all citizens.

There were 30% more actual crashes than was projected this year, but deaths were significantly down. This year, the Georgia Department of Public Safety projected 15 highway deaths for the period, but Georgia only experienced five traffic deaths. There were 16 deaths in 2009 for the Memorial Day holiday period. In this area, there was one death in Cuthbert and one in Albany.

The long overdue seatbelt requirement for pickups is finally the law after Governor Perdue signed legislation this past week.

The state legislature had failed for several years to require seatbelts for pickups, not only making Georgia the only state in the union not to require them, but also causing the state to lose $50 million per year from the federal government because of its lack of compliance.

Pickup truck drivers should be aware that seatbelts are now required in Georgia.