Nashville, Tennessee --- The Tennessee Highway Patrol will work to get impaired drivers off the roads during the New Year holiday weekend. Sobriety and driver license checkpoints will be conducted in counties across the state on New Year's Eve and the early morning hours of New Year's Day, to prevent serious crashes among motorists.

"Drinking and driving don't mix on New Year's Eve or at any other time," said Interim Department of Safety Commissioner Gerald Nicely. "If your celebration includes alcohol, designate a sober driver. You can also protect yourself by wearing safety restraints and obeying speed and other traffic laws."

The New Year's holiday is traditionally a high risk period for alcohol-related crashes and fatalities. Over the New Year holiday period in 2004, five (42%) of the 12 people who were killed died in alcohol-related crashes. Other factors were also cited as playing a role in the holiday death count. Eight fatality victims were not wearing safety restraints, while three were ejected from vehicles. This year's official New Year's Holiday begins at 6:00pm on Friday, December 30 th , 2005 and continues through midnight on Monday, January 2 nd , 2006 .

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that alcohol-related fatalities in the U. S. dropped by three percent in 2003. Despite the decline, NHTSA estimates that about 50 people die each day as the result of alcohol-related crashes in America . Approximately 380 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes in Tennessee in 2004. So far this year, preliminary numbers indicate that 168 people have been killed in crashes where alcohol was a factor. However, all of the reports have not yet been filed with the state, so those numbers could change.

The Tennessee Department of Safety's mission is (www.tn.gov/safety) to ensure the safety and general welfare of the public. The department encompasses the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Office of Homeland Security and Driver License Services. General areas of responsibility include law enforcement, safety education, motorist services and terrorism prevention.