Operation Southern Slow Down begins next week

GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) — Law enforcement agencies across the southeast are preparing for Operation Southern Slow Down, a multi-state enforcement campaign aimed at reducing speeding.

Between Sunday through July 20, law enforcement agencies in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and Alabama will increase patrols of interstates and highways to look for drivers who are speeding or driving recklessly.

“Across the nation, speeding is the highest contributing factor for collisions,” Lt. Cortney Wright of the Clemson University Police Department (CUPD) said.

According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, more than 460 people have died in traffic crashes in South Carolina in 2024.

“In Oconee and Pickens County, we’ve had at least 18 fatalities this year,” Wright said.

The Clemson University Police Department is one of the agencies taking part in Operation Southern Slow Down.

“For CUPD, we will enhance our operations focusing on areas where we normally see higher rates of speed and focusing on corridors, like U.S. 76, S.C. 93 and Perimeter Road,” Wright said.

The campaign comes in the middle of the 100 Deadly Days of Summer, a time when law enforcement says there has historically been an increase in the number of deadly crashes involving teens. 

“You have more people on the roadways,” Wright explained. “People are out of school and going on vacation. You have more parties and celebrations that people are partaking in.”

Officers hope their efforts next week will remind drivers to slow down and save lives.