Tennessee Highway Patrol Increasing Patrols During Memorial Day Weekend

May 29, 2021
Photo Credit: Tennessee Highway Patrol

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) plans to increase patrols and utilize a variety of traffic safety enforcement tools to reduce the number of serious injury and fatal crashes across the state during this year’s Memorial Day holiday period.  The THP will conduct saturation patrols, seat belt and sobriety checkpoints, as well as increased visibility on high-crash corridors throughout the summer to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes. 

“Memorial Day signals the start of summer travel,” said Colonel Matt Perry. “We are coming out of a pandemic that created severe and unique challenges for us all. With this, we see traffic fatalities on the rise. Now that more vehicles are getting back on the road, we need you now more than ever to drive safe.”  

Troopers will be proactively enforcing speeding, driving under the influence, seat belt, and reckless driving laws this weekend and throughout the summer months,” said Colonel Matt Perry. “These avoidable behaviors have continuously been identified as contributing factors to injury and death on the roadways of Tennessee. 

“Last year, 12 people were killed in vehicle crashes during the Memorial Day weekend in Tennessee,” said Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Jeff Long. “Our primary goal is to honor this Memorial Day weekend by reducing the number of crashes and traffic fatalities across the state.”

State troopers arrested 144 individuals on suspicion of DUI and ticketed 801 motorists for violation of the seat belt law during last year’s Memorial Day holiday.