THP participating in 'Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over' program

Dec. 30– The Tennessee Highway Patrol is once again participating in the national holiday enforcement campaign, "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over."

State troopers will join local law enforcement agencies across the state to encourage safe driving habits and remove impaired drivers from Tennessee roadways this holiday season.

The New Year’s holiday period commences at 6 p.m. today and concludes at 11:59 p.m., Monday, January 2.

The holiday season is one of the deadliest and most dangerous times of the year due to an increase in impaired driving.

State Safety Department records show the fewest number of people were killed during last year’s New Year’s holiday period with six vehicular fatalities. Nearly 17 percent (16.7 percent) of those fatalities occurred in alcohol-related crashes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says nationwide impaired driving fatalities have dropped from 10,759 in 2009 to 10,228 in 2010, a 4.9 percent decline.

In 2010, 283 people died in Tennessee traffic crashes involving a driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. That’s a 5.4 percent decline from the 299 impaired driving deaths in 2009, and a 7.5 percent decline from the 306 impaired driving deaths in 2008.

"We are encouraged by the decline in impaired vehicular fatalities in Tennessee and nationwide," THP Colonel Tracy Trott said.

"Our agency has placed a greater emphasis on identifying and removing impaired drivers from state roadways, increasing the number of DUI arrests by 38 percent since last year," he said.

In 2010, there were 1,031 traffic fatalities in Tennessee, an increase of just over 4.5 percent from 986 fatalities in 2009.

As of Dec. 21, preliminary statistics indicate that 908 people have died on Tennessee roadways this year, a decrease of 109 deaths (10.7 percent) compared to 1,017 fatalities at this same time a year ago.