Memorial Day kicks off summer enforcement season
With the Memorial weekend close at hand, the state troopers from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama announced their summer “Border to Border” campaign to encourage safe driving, and for those drivers who fail to meet that standard, they will be happy to provide a ticket.
The announcement was made just south of Chattanooga, at Georgia Welcome Center on I-75, with troopers from Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee present. The Georgia state patrol spokesman noted drivers should not “text and drive” along with anything that distracts the driver’s “primary focus from the road.”
The Tennessee Highway Patrol head Col. Tracy Trott told drivers to avoid driving drunk and to always wear a seat belt. A captain from the Alabama patrol warned drivers that they would be increasing enforcement of the seat belt law, especially at night, when the driver may believe the trooper cannot check for compliance.
The THP noted that 13 percent of drivers failing to wear seat belts made up 50 percent of traffic fatalities, so always, always wear your seat belt.
The Memorial Day weekend is likely to include various checkpoints set up by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Sheriff’s deputies and local police. Even if it is called a drivers license checkpoint, you can be certain every officer will be looking for signs of intoxication.
And with aggressive publicity and enforcement there will likely be cases where the THP or Chattanooga police may guess wrong, and arrest a driver for a DUI who is not intoxicated. Considering the negative consequences of such a charge, it is wise to plan a vigorous defense to any DUI charges.
Source: Newchannel9.com, “Local Troopers Get Ready For Summer Traffic Enforcement,” Calvin Sneed, May 18, 2015