Friday, October 13, 2017
CONTACT:
Arriale Tabson, 615-767-3242
Tennessee’s Second Statewide Distracted Driving Enforcement Bus Tour Yielded 905 Citations
TENNESSEE – From Monday, October 9, to Thursday, October 12, the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) and the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) partnered with local law enforcement for Tennessee’s second statewide bus tour to crack down on distracted driving. The THP provided two large, black and tan buses marked with THP logos to transport law enforcement as they observed motorists for traffic violations.
“Combatting distracted driving is not a simple task,” said Vic Donoho, Director of the THSO. “Our mission is to change driver behavior through increased education and enforcement, but we can’t do this alone.”Officers representing various agencies riding the THP bus communicated with ground units after observing traffic violations to initiate the execution of enforcement action. Each district conducted approximately two hours of enforcement. Click here for photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9xmdMJbhhkzVkhYi1
“This campaign has grown tremendously due to increased support from local law enforcement and our traffic safety partners,” said Donoho. “I would like to thank the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), Kyle W. Kiihnl Memorial Foundation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, TriStar Skyline Medical Center, Columbia Driver Services Center, THP, and every police department and sheriff’s office that joined the initiative.”
In April 2017, Tennessee’s first bus tour yielded 224 total traffic citations statewide. During the second tour, law enforcement officers issued a total of 905 citations statewide. For more information, please contact Arriale Tabson at arriale.tabson@tn.gov.
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Note: The total number of citations includes additional violations discovered during the traffic stops.
The Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) is a division of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security advocating for traffic safety. The THSO works in tandem with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to implement statewide programs addressing occupant protection, impaired driving, speed enforcement, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and crash data collection and analysis. Programs administered by the THSO are 100 percent federally funded. The THSO’s mission is to effectively develop, implement, and evaluate these programs. To learn more, please visit www.tntrafficsafety.org.