Local Legislator Honored for Keeping Teen Drivers Safe

Virginia Gibbs, Fayette Chamber President; Representative Matt Ramsey; Mark Gray, State Farm Insurance

State Representative Matt Ramsey of Peachtree City has taken action to keep teen drivers safe and is receiving the Graduated Driver Licensing Champion Award, presented by State Farm®. This award is given in recognition of Ramsey’s efforts to pass legislation that would ban the usage of cell phones by teen drivers last year. This bill plugged one of the major gaps in Georgia’s Graduated Drivers License (or GDL) laws.

“Rep. Ramsey has taken steps to help reduce the number of teen crashes and ultimately save lives here in Georgia“, said State Farm Agent Mark Gray of Peachtree City.

The award was presented to Rep. Ramsey by Mr. Gray at the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce Business after Hours on Tuesday, October 19th at the Dogwood Forest Assisted Living Community on Highway 54 in Fayetteville.

Motor vehicle crashes are the #1 killer of American teens. In Georgia in 2008, 233 young people were involved in fatal car crashes. Graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws have been proven to help prevent these tragedies. GDL is a system designed to introduce driving privileges in phases; this approach keeps new teen drivers out of high-risk situations, protecting them and others on the road while they gain driving experience. According to the National Safety Council, states with strong GDL laws have as much as a 40% reduction in crashes involving teen drivers.

State Farm has awarded legislators from four states with the 2010 Graduated Driver Licensing Champion Award. The honorees were instrumental in helping to enact stronger teen driving safety laws in their states. The winners include Senator Quinton Ross and Representative Mac Gipson of Alabama, Senator Jack Murphy and Representative Matt Ramsey of Georgia, Representative Hollis Downs of Louisiana, and Senator Tracey Eide of Washington.

Photo Source:  Fayette County Chamber of Commerce

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Operation Pill Drop - Peachtree City and Fayetteville

Take-back event offers the public a safe and secure way to dispose of their medications.


Peachtree City:

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Safe Kids of Georgia, and the Peachtree City Police Department are sponsoring an Operation Pill Drop location in Peachtree City on September 25th, 2010, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The event will be held in the parking lot of K-Mart, located in the Braelinn Village Shopping Center at 400 Crosstown Drive, Peachtree City, GA.

This is a prescription drug take-back event where the public can dispose of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications to keep them out of the wrong hands. Operation Pill Drop offers the public a free, anonymous, and convenient option for disposing these medications to protect their families and the environment. Unintentional poisoning from prescription medications is on the rise. Every year, over 2 million poison exposures are reported in the U.S. In 2009, over 51% of reported poisonings in Georgia, involved children ages 5 and under.

Please note that Operation Pill Drop cannot accept needles/sharps, syringes with needles, thermometers, IV bags, bloody or infectious waste, personal care products, empty containers, inhalers, medical equipment or hydrogen peroxide.

For more information, visit www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov or www.safekidsgeorgia.org.

Fayette County Sheriff's Office, Fayetteville: 

The Fayette County Sheriff Office has partnered with the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and other government, community, public health and law enforcement partners to announce a nationwide prescription drug “Take-Back” initiative that seeks to prevent increased pill abuse and theft.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office will be collecting potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction on Saturday, September 25th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, 155 Johnson Avenue, Fayetteville, Georgia. The service is free and anonymous; there are no questions asked or paperwork required. Participants in this initiative are simply asked to bring there unused or unwanted prescription drugs to this location where they can be destroyed.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office will have a “drive-though” type setup in the Sheriff’s Office Parking lot on Johnson Avenue nearest to South Jeff Davis Drive. Participants can drive through and not get out of their car.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards. You can make your home safe and strengthen your community by participating in this nationwide prescription take-back program.
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The Internet is Forever: Learn How not to Become a Victim January 13 in PTC

Do you use a cellphone or know someone who does? Do you use facebook, myspace, or other photo - sharing websites?

Come learn more about about responsible texting and living in a digital world on January 13 at 7 pm at the PTC First Presbyterian Church. This informative free program features Richard Guerry of the Institute for Responsible Online and Cellphone Communication as he discusses how best to keep teens and young adults from becoming digital victims.

Free registration is located at http://firstpresptc.com/signup.php. For more information or to register by phone, call 770-487-7757.The First Presbyterian Church of Peachtree City is located in the heart of Peachtree City at 206 Willow Bend Rd across from City Hall.

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Fayette Schools Involved in Safe Routes to School Program

Peeples Elementary and Rising Starr Middle schools have become partners with Georgia’s Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program.

SRTS works with elementary and middle schools to create opportunities and activities for children to safely walk and bike to school who live within a 2-mile radius. Schools that become partners receive support from the program’s resource center to help them teach students and parents about walking and biking safety, encourage students to walk and bike to school and methods that can be used to measure the number of students walking and biking.

Both Peeples and Rising Starr are partners at the Silver Level, meaning they have SRTS programs in place. Schools at this level are required to develop a SRTS Travel Plan (per Georgia’s SRTS Guidebook) and implement a SRTS event, sustain at least one on-going program to encourage walking and/or biking or conduct a classroom based program to educate children on safe walking and/or biking behaviors.

Fayette County was among 13 communities in the state to receive SRTS funding in June. The funding will be used for infrastructure projects at Peeples and Rising Starr including construction of a multiuse path, building of a bridge over a creek and installation of pedestrian sidewalks.

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