The commissioners of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) are attempting to curb traffic fatalities in Tennessee. As of October 17 800 people have been killed on Tennessee roadways thisd year....the same as this time last year. Robert Rickman has the statistics...
TDOT Commissioner John Schroer says daily traffic fatality figures will be displayed on dynamic message boards across the state. The figures will be updated each weekday and will be compared to the number of fatalities on the same date in 2012.
TDOSHS Commissioner Bill Gibbons said the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) will continue to focus on DUI and seatbelt enforcement efforts that will include special enforcement campaigns throughout the upcoming holiday travel season.
A total of 172 individuals have died in alcohol-related crashes through October 16, compared to 252 at this time in 2012 (a drop of 31.7 percent). To date, there has been a 10.7 percent decline in total alcohol-related crashes this year.
State DUI enforcement efforts have resulted in 5,039 arrests for driving under the influence through October 16. That is a 10 percent increase over the number of DUI arrests made this time last year (4,578). This is Robert Rickman, WGNS news.
State troopers have greatly focused on issuing seatbelt citations in 2013, as well, resulting in a 52.2 percent increase compared to this time last year (59,918 citations in 2013; 39,392 in 2012.) So far this year, there have been 289 unrestrained fatalities on Tennessee roadways, compared to 331 this time last year (a 12.7 percent decrease).
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