With 20 deaths this year on the roadways of McMinn County – seven in the last half of October – state and local officials are looking at ways to promote safety and reduce fatalities in the rural county.
McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said his department is working with the Governor’s Highway Safety Office and the Tennessee Highway Patrol to make county roads safer.
McMinn County traffic fatalities:2005: 162006: 122007: 192008: 142009: 11Source: Tennessee Department of Safety
“We’re working on more high-visibility patrols and a media campaign,” Guy said. “More law enforcement [officers] are going to be out on the highways.”
Interstate 75 – the main artery between Chattanooga and Knoxville – runs through the center of McMinn, and several other highways cut through the county in all directions, Guy said.