On Thursday, December 14, the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) will join Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD), the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), and the Tennessee Sheriffs' Association (TSA) for a press event promoting National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month to raise awareness on the dangers of impaired driving.

During the event, guest speaker Tanya Read will tell the story of her 17-year-old son, Nicolas, who was killed on May 15, 2015, as a result of an impaired-driving crash. This year to date, preliminary data shows that in 2017 there were 167 fatalities known to involve impaired driving in Tennessee. This time last year, there were 208.

A New Years Eve sobriety checkpoint will be conducted by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in Murfreesboro on South Rutherford Boulevard west of Broad Street (Hwy 41)...



As with all checkpoints, an exact time of when it will start and end has not been announced. However, we can confirm it will occur after nightfall on New Years Eve.

About Nicolas Townsend who died at age 17:

Nick Townsend died at the age of only 17. At the time, he was a Portland High School senior. The fatal wreck occurred in 2015 and Townsend was a passenger in a vehicle that was struck on Highway 52 in Tennessee. The teen was on the way home with his girlfriend and her mother after spending the day volunteering at a Special Olympics event.

Reports indicate Townsend suffered serious head trauma in the accident and died two days after the collision. Their car was hit by a suspected drunk driver.

The teenagers organs were donated and saved the lives of 7 different people. The recipients of the organ transplants ranged in age from only 6 months to 68 years old.

Arrested after the crash was a woman named Laura Beasley from Springfield, Tennessee. She was charged with vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular assault, DUI with a child enhancement and reckless endangerment.