The Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) for its “Booze It and Lose It” campaign now through September 4, surrounding the Labor Day holiday. This initiative coincides with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” mobilization to increase impaired-driving enforcement nationwide.
The Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting various saturation patrols along with sobriety checkpoints during this time. The checkpoints will be located at various locations throughout the county at different times.
Sheriff Bill Phillips stated that the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office is proud to partner with the T.H.S.O. in an effort to prevent every impaired-driving-related death possible. This senseless act is responsible for about 10,000 deaths every year throughout our country, which is roughly 30% of all traffic-related deaths. Through education and extra enforcement, we will do all we can in attempting to keep our community from being devastated by one or more of these senseless tragedies, said Sheriff Phillps.
Increased state and national messaging about the dangers of drunk driving, coupled with increased sobriety checkpoints and high visibility enforcement, aim to drastically reduce the number of drunk-driving crashes, injuries, and fatalities this year.
The consequences of a single DUI conviction for a first-time offender in the state of Tennessee may include costly fines, court costs, legal fees, jail time, mandatory drug and alcohol treatment, and/or the installation of an ignition interlock device in his/her vehicle.
The THSO provides grant funding to support the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office’s increased enforcement efforts during the “Booze It and Lose It” campaign. For more information about the THSO, please visit www.tntrafficsafety.org.
