State and local officers from five Southeastern states are out in large numbers in a special enforcement operation primarily looking for trucks and cars speeding on highways and interstates.

The July 17-23 increased enforcement effort “Operation Southern Shield” is supported by a special fund from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The purpose of “Operation Southern Shield” is to increase enforcement during this heavy travel period when the rate of fatal crashes is highest throughout the South primarily targeting the region’s major freeways and high-risk areas.

Alabama Florida Georgia South Carolina and Tennessee are participating in the effort.

For more than 20 years speeding has been involved in approximately one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities according to NHTSA research.

In Tennessee the number of speed-related deaths increased by about 8% from 2012 to 2015 according to the Tennessee Integrated Traffic Analysis Network.

And in Georgia NHTSA said the number of speed-related deaths increased nearly 50% during the same time period.

During a July news conference starting off the event in Georgia NHTSA Associate Administrator Gunnels called the speeding enforcement operation “one of the first of it’s kind in the United States.”

Truck drivers are encouraged to drive safely and within the speed limits at all times.