GHSO Announces No More on 64 Enforcement Mobilization

NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Governor's Highway Safety Office joined fourteen local law enforcement agencies today to announce the largest ever high visibility enforcement mobilization along US Highway 64 in Tennessee. No More on 64 begins December 19th and stretches through six southern Tennessee counties. 

 

Highway 64 is a major east/west route through southern Tennessee. The No More on 64 effort stretches through six counties and involves agencies from Polk, Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, Grundy and Franklin counties. The No More on 64 enforcement effort begins on Highway 64 at the Tennessee/North Carolina line in Polk County and stretches through Franklin County. Law enforcement agencies will conduct sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols from 2:00 p.m. on December 19 through 2:00 a.m. on December 20. This effort encompasses a large area of rural roadways.

 

"Too many people are dying on Tennessee's rural roadways," said GHSO Director Kendell Poole. "This is just one effort underway to save lives on Tennessee's rural highways where 60 percent of all traffic fatalities in our state occur."

 

The disparity between the number of deaths on rural and urban roadways is obvious when comparing the rural and urban counties along US 64. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported the 2007 fatality rate per 100,000 people in Hamilton County as 13.02 percent while Polk County was at 57.41 percent and Grundy County came in at 35.03 percent. What's more, the last report of the overall economic impact of motor vehicle crashes is an average of $820 for every person living in a community. Rural taxpayers should ask themselves who is paying the larger portion of the expense.

 

GHSO Law Enforcement Liaison Clint Shrum added, "This event promotes a message of no more. No more speeding, no more impaired driving, no more crashes on Highway 64 and no more holiday wishes dashed by the loss of a loved one in a vehicle crash."

 

The No More on 64 enforcement mobilization will run from 2:00 p.m. on December 19th through 2:00 a.m. on December 20th. Motorists are reminded to designate a sober driver, wear a safety belt and obey the speed limit along all Tennessee roadways this holiday season.

 

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TDOT Communications Office

615-741-2331

 

For more information contact:

Julie Oaks, TDOT PIO

Julie.A.Oaks@state.tn.us
615-741-9930

 

Kendell Poole, GHSO Director
615-741-2589