Fentress Using State Partner to Focus on Safe Driving

The Fentress County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office to increase roadway safety.

Some $10,000 in grant funding is coming to the Fentress County Sheriff’s office to provide more traffic vests, flashlights and overtime pay. Manager for Highway Safety Programs Detective Sergeant Jason Duncan said funding will focus on speeding and its effect on seat belts.

“More drivers are seat belting up, but yet they are still being killed in crashes and a lot of the evidence points toward an increase in speed,” Duncan said. “Which has adversely affected, even though they have been belted in their seat they still are not surviving the crashes.”

Duncan said the funding for overtime and visibility equipment helps a rural department maintain an over night presence. Ratcheting up speeding and distracted driving enforcement.

“It’s hard for what officers are working on shift to always catch and enforce what’s going on, even though they attempt to do that,” Duncan said. “The overtime will just allow us to bring additional officers in after hours.”

With more officers working late into the night, Duncan said it increases the need to be aware of people pulled over. Bringing speeding, distractions and law enforcement visibility into play.

“Slow down, if you can’t move over slow down to a safe speed where you can go by them,” Duncan said. “If you can move over to an opposite lane, then move over a lane to allow them to do their job. That way at the end of the day, not only does the motoring community go home safely but so does that officer.”

For the past several years the focus has been on alcohol enforcement. Duncan said the sheriff’s office completed the last grant year with zero alcohol related fatalities.