Traffic enforcement heightens over holiday weekend

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office has ramped up traffic enforcement efforts this week — and based on the number of citations it appears to be working.

Since Wednesday, Bibb deputies have been joined by other law enforcement agencies as part of Operation Rolling Thunder. Each day officers and deputies have focused on particular areas, such as catching speeders and distracted drivers.

“Tonight and Saturday we’ll be focused on impaired drivers,” Bibb sheriff’s Capt. Brad Wolfe said Friday afternoon.

The sheriff’s office has received assistance for Operation Rolling Thunder from about 30 officers from other municipal and county agencies as well as the Georgia State Patrol. There were 173 speeding tickets handed out Wednesday and Bibb deputies gave about 100 seat belt citations on Thursday.

Both those numbers are a lot higher than the average day, Wolfe said.

“We’ve been able to reallocate some manpower and put some more emphasis on these things that are important for traffic safety,” he said.

And Wolfe has a message for people who will be out on the road throughout the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Although Operation Thunder ends early Sunday morning, Bibb deputies will still be on the lookout for unsafe drivers throughout the extended holiday weekend.

“Plan ahead, be smart and be safe,” Wolfe said.

This story was originally published June 30, 2017 at 4:07 PM with the headline "Traffic enforcement heightens over holiday weekend."