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Charles Lowery
State law enforcement authorities are vowing to crack down on St. Patrick’s Day revelers in an attempt to reduce the growing number of traffic fatalities in Tennessee over the holiday.
Authorities will operate more than 50 sobriety and driver’s license checkpoints across the state, according to a news release from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
“If you decide to drink and drive, know that state troopers will be out in force looking for you,” Highway Patrol Cmdr. Mike Wallace said in a written statement. “If you get caught, you will go to jail, and a pot of gold and a little jig won’t help you.”
Lt. Charles Lowery of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said county officers also will be out in force, but they won’t be manning sobriety checkpoints.
“We will be out during the saturation that we have been doing all year long,” he said. “We will have additional people out during the weekend looking for DUI drivers and impaired drivers.”
Ten people statewide were killed in nine fatal accidents during the 2007 celebration, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that 44 percent of people involved in traffic fatalities during last year’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend had a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or higher.
“Don’t rely on the luck of the Irish,” Tennessee Department of Safety Commissioner Dave Mitchell said. “Act responsibly and use a designated driver or sober friend to get you home from the celebration.”
Ryan Harris, manager of Hair of the Dog pub on Market Street, said his bartenders are trained to watch for signs that someone has had too much to drink.
He said numbers will be posted for area taxi companies and employees will be on the lookout to make sure patrons are not served too much to drink.
“We will stress it on that night, but we stress it every night,” he said.
In Tennessee, someone convicted of driving while intoxicated faces a mandatory 48 hours in jail and loss of driving privileges for a year. The legal blood-alcohol intoxication limit in Tennessee is 0.08 percent.
