MADD Tennessee and Tennessee Law Enforcement Team Up for Labor Day Crackdown on Drunk Driving
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MADD Joins National Effort with Tens of Thousands of Law Enforcement Officers in Booze It and Lose It. Labor Day Crackdown, Warning Drivers: If You Drive Drunk, You Will be Arrested
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 27, 2007 The following advisory is being issued by Mothers Against Drunk Driving:
What: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) of Tennessee along with the
Governor's Highway Safety Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol and
the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department will hold a news
conference to kick off a statewide drunk driving crackdown that
aims to keep our streets safe at a historically dangerous period
-- Labor Day weekend. MADD is working with law enforcement this
holiday weekend to send the message: if you drive under the
influence of alcohol, you will be under arrest.
The Tennessee Booze It and Lose It. effort is part of a national
drunk driving crackdown, Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under
Arrest., sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) in partnership with MADD, the Governors
Highway Safety Association (GHSA), and the International
Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). During the crackdown, law
enforcement officials will intensify enforcement of drunk driving
laws by conducting high-visibility enforcement efforts such as
sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols.
At the press conference, media will have the opportunity to view
a mock sobriety checkpoint, which will demonstrate the procedure
drivers must undergo when they are stopped at a sobriety
checkpoint conducted during the Labor Day crackdown period. The
demonstration will include a field sobriety test. Additionally,
the media will be invited to view and video tape an actual
sobriety checkpoint later in the evening located at the
intersection of Highway 41 and Highway 70 at Stroop Lane between
Smyrna and Murfreesboro beginning at 8:30 p.m. to see local law
enforcement in action as they crack down on drunk driving.
When: Wednesday, August 29
10:00 a.m. CDT
Where: Tennessee Highway Patrol Training Center
275 Stewarts Ferry Pike
Nashville, TN 37214
*If directions are needed, please contact Sonya Manfred at
(615) 360-8055.
Who: Attending the press conference will be:
-- Glynn Birch, President, MADD
-- Laura Dial, Executive Director, MADD Tennessee
-- Kendell Poole, Director, Governor's Highway Safety Office
-- Colonel Mike Walker, Tennessee Highway Patrol
-- Chief Ronal Serpas, Metro Nashville Police Department
-- Officer Juan Borges, El Protector
-- Traci Hughes Jungkurth, a victim and survivor of drunk
driving
Why: Drunk driving is the nation's most frequently committed violent
crime. In 2006, 408 people were killed in Tennessee in crashes
where the driver had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08
or higher. Nationally, almost 13,500 people were killed. Research
shows that frequent and highly publicized sobriety checkpoints
and saturation patrols reduce deaths and injuries due to drunk
driving. The four-day enforcement wave in Tennessee runs from
August 31 - September 3.
High-visibility enforcement, a proven method to reduce the number
of deaths and injuries caused by drunk driving, is one of the
four components of MADD's Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving.
The other elements include: mandatory ignition interlocks for all
convicted drunk drivers, development of advanced vehicle
technology to detect and stop drunk drivers, and mobilization of
grassroots support.