The Hall County Sheriff's Office is putting more patrol cars on the roads in an effort to keep the amount of roadway fatalities from growing.
In 2015, 32 people died in traffic accidents on Hall County roads, up from 22 in 2014, and deputies believe distracted driving played a major role in most of those deaths. The numbers, however, buck the trend that's often associated with distracted driving; most of the fatalities were people between the ages of 55 and 65, not teenagers.
"In 2014 the average age (of victims) was about 40 years old. In 2015, it's about 54 years old," Lt. Bonner Burton, adding that the 2015 numbers are skewed slightly because of several children killed in accidents.
Deputies hope their increased patrols in various zones throughout the county, which they will share publicly, will help slow drivers down and keep their eyes on the road. In January, there will be more law enforcement along U.S. 129/Athens Highway, Poplar Springs Road and Ga. 60/Candler Highway, with deputies looking for distracted drivers, speeders and seat belt violators, among a host of other potential problems.
"I think it's more than just texting and driving. I think we're also talking about just taking your eyes off the roadway, whether it's changing a song on your iPad or changing a radio station," said Burton.
The other side of their efforts, which Burton said is even more important than their patrols, is education.
"One of the big ones that we're going to begin implementing very soon is a program called 'Car Fit.' It's oriented towards senior drivers, (age) 50 and above, and it's designed to help them fit into their car properly," said Burton.
That includes having the proper distance between the driver and the steering wheel, aligning the mirrors correctly and learning how to control things like automated braking systems and traction control.
Fortunately for deputies, there's one problem they haven't had to deal much in the last year.
"Strangely enough, drunk driving appears to be only one of the fatalities we had in 2015. We don't discount our enforcement techniques on DUI enforcement. We're going to continue that," said Burton.
He reiterated that patrols will still continue elsewhere in the county, but there will be higher concentrations at various places throughout the year.
