Rhea County Sheriff’s Department is partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) to increase impaired-driving enforcement from December 15, 2023, to January 1, 2024, surrounding the holiday season. The THSO’s statewide Booze It and Lose It campaign is part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over nationwide mobilization.
Sheriff Mike Neal stated deputies will conduct saturation patrols, along with sobriety checkpoints on state and secondary roadways inside Rhea County to ensure the safety of the public during this holiday season. The Sheriff’s Department will be enforcing a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY on drunk and impaired driving, speeding, and seatbelt violations.
“Our goal is to do everything we can to prevent fatal crashes from occurring”. Saturation patrols are not all about citations, it’s about educating drivers and being visible so people will think twice before getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. The hardest part of the job is making that house call and telling a family that their loved one is gone because someone chose to drink and drive. That’s why as always, we will show ZERO TOLERANCE for impaired drivers on the roads. Please find a safe and sober ride home stated Sheriff Neal.
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 Rhea County Sheriff’s Department increased enforcement efforts during the Booze It and Lose It holiday campaign. For more information about the THSO, please visit www.tntrafficsafety.org.
