Hit the brakes! DOT starting Operation Southern Slow Down campaign across the Southeast U.S.

You better put on the brakes when you’re driving around town this week.

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The Department of Transportation is starting its campaign called, “Operation Southern Slow Down.” It’s a week-long speed enforcement and education campaign all across the Southeast.

FDOT said it’s to reduce speed-related traffic crashes and deaths.

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Speeding is a significant factor in traffic deaths across Florida, contributing to nearly 10% of these deaths statewide between 2019 and 2023.

Demographic data reveals that young male drivers are particularly at risk, with 84% of speeding-involved deaths involving male drivers, predominantly those aged 16-25.

“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, P.E. “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.”

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