No Tennessee DUI-Related Labor Day Crashes: THP Cites “No Refusal” Law
A September 2012 Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security report has announced that there were zero DUI-related fatal accidents in Tennessee in the 16 counties selected for “No Refusal” enforcement over the Labor Day weekend.
In these counties, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, a number of district attorneys and law enforcement combined their efforts this Labor Day weekend attempting to prevent impaired driving-related highway injuries and death.
Officials report that not only were there no fatalities, only one DUI suspect refused to submit to a blood alcohol test and a warrant was obtained. Checkpoints where sobriety and driver licenses were examined were set up in all 16 selected counties and in other parts of the state from Friday, August 31 through Monday, September 3.
The “No Refusal” law, passed by the General Assembly this year, makes it possible for law enforcement officials to get search warrants for blood tests when they suspect a driver of being impaired. This new law makes it much more difficult for an intoxicated driver to avoid being tested.
Commissioner Bill Gibbons said that awareness of the “No Refusal” law “really served to deter people from getting behind the wheel while impaired. That is our main goal with this new law, to prevent tragedies caused by drinking and driving.”
The counties involved in the Labor Day enforcement included: the Knoxville District (Roane and Campbell); the Chattanooga District (McMinn and Meigs); the Nashville District (Robertson and Rutherford); the Memphis District (Shelby and Tipton); the Fall Branch District (Jefferson and Sullivan; the Cookeville District (Cumberland and Warren); the Lawrenceburg District (Bedford and Lincoln); and the Jackson District (Chester and Weakley).
Since graduating magna cum laude in 2005 from the University of Memphis School of Law, Thomas has helped make a difference in the lives of victims of serious personal injury, wrongful death, and professional negligence. Thomas has extensive trial experience in both state and federal court. Among other victories in the courtroom, Thomas obtained several impressive jury verdicts and settlements
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