NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Highway Patrol has planned to be out in force along the roadways trying to keep drivers safe this Labor Day Weekend.
They unveiled a new tool during a news conference Friday that will help them do just that.
The new DUI Trooper Taxis were unveiled to the public. They'll be taking them out on the roads hoping drivers see these new rolling billboards while traveling.
Labor Day fatalities have decreased from 13 in 2013 to 12 last year, but those with THP want to lower the numbers even more.
“We are on record pace to have the lowest fatalities in this state of Tennessee since 1962, and that is something we’re not happy with. We want that to be lowest record in history,” Lieutenant Bill Miller said. “We are working hard to make sure you're safe.”
Two of the cars will be their DUI Trooper Taxis. The taxis were made to be part patrol car, part taxi cab.
They were not designed to actually give people a sober ride home, but to send drivers a strong message: if you're impaired, either pay up to $50 and call a cab or pay up to $1,500 in fines and spend up to 48 hours in jail.
Rebecca Ahlstrom has known all too well about the heartbreak caused by drinking and driving.
Her daughter, Meagan was killed by an impaired driver. Rebecca said she wishes that driver had made smarter choices.
“If he had told his friends, ‘If I get to this place, if I do drink too much, if I drink at all, don’t let me drive. Be that kind of friend to me,’ and that’s what I try to encourage when I speak at high schools or whatever, is what kind of friend are you going to be to someone,” Rebecca said.
More than 5,200 DUI arrests have been made so far this year with over 3,900 alcohol-related accidents, so officials hope people will designate a driver and stay safe.
Also, those with the Tennessee Department of Transportation have been trying to keep travelers safe by suspending all construction-related lane closures Friday through Tuesday morning.
