Police to increase Labor Day patrols

McMinnville Police Department plans to crack down on drunk drivers from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, the Labor Day holiday.

The Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office has requested McMinnville Police Department, and all other agencies throughout Tennessee, to make efforts in reducing DUI’s during the Labor Day weekend.

Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and injure someone every two minutes (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2006).

In a study containing data from 1982 to 2001, the NHTSA estimated that during the summer holidays the average daily number of automobile deaths that are alcohol-related is 102. Fourth of July has the highest number of alcohol-related fatalities per day, with Memorial Day coming in second and Labor Day third.

Because of this, a team of officers, known as a saturation patrol, will be patrolling areas within the city limits. The team will be explicitly searching for drivers who are under the influence and occupants who are not properly restrained.

This is the third time this summer the department has taken to the streets with this kind of program, with Memorial Day and Fourth of July being the other two.

‘They are very effective,’ said Sgt. Mark Mara. ‘Our goal is to make the streets safer during the holiday weekend. We will be stopping anyone we suspect of drinking and driving and those not properly restrained.’

The saturation patrol hopes to deter drinking and driving while making the streets safer. To accomplish this, the department has received funding from the Tennessee Governors Highway Safety Office to purchase special equipment to help detect impaired drivers.

The department will be using passive alcohol sensors and breathalyzers. Where the breathalyzers require participation by the driver, the passive alcohol sensors do not. These devices sense alcohol in the exhaled breath near the driver’s mouth.