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Sheriffs office receives grant for highway safety
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Forsyth County News
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office has received a $101,630 state grant to increase safety on local roads.

The Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic, or HEAT, grant comes from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

According to a statement from the office, the HEAT project’s primary goals are to reduce impaired driving crashes and excessive speeding, as well as raise safety belt use and educate the public about traffic safety.  

To that end, the sheriff’s HEAT unit plans to develop strategies aimed at those goals.

Director Bob Dallas said in a statement that the grant expresses the office’s gratitude and reflects “the dedication and support of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office for their efforts to protect Georgians from speeders and impaired drivers.”

Dallas said 416 people were killed in 2008 as a result of impaired driving-related crashes statewide.

“The chance of a crash being fatal here was almost six times higher for crashes related to alcohol or drugs than crashes not related to driver impairment,” he said.

Other agencies receiving HEAT grants included those in Atlanta and Duluth, as well as neighboring Cherokee County.