Impaired Driving Enforcement Gearing Up For Holiday Season

Law Enforcement is keying in on drunk and impaired driving this holiday season, because they would rather make a DUI arrest than see a death on the roads.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Captain R.C. Christian said from now until the New Year drivers need to make the right decision on getting home during Booze it and Lose it. Christian said Putnam County will attract a lot of people looking to celebrate the holidays, and law enforcement will be ready for anyone taking a risk on the road.

“I know Cookeville PD is always gonna be looking for them, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and that ain’t counting the troopers and the agencies it borders,” Christian said. “Cookeville, Cumberland County has a large presence of that as well.”

Christian said people need to consider the ripple effects a DUI arrest can have on the rest of their life. He said that’s if they’re arrested, without causing an accident.

“You’re probably looking at, by the time you get through the court processes and everything like that, you could be looking at from $5,000 to $10,000 easily,” Christian said. “If you’re convicted, you look at all of the fines and your court costs. What this does to your driving privileges, it has such a ripple effect.”

Christian said efforts like this feel personal, because law enforcement has to see the aftermath of accidents drunk drivers cause that they don’t catch.

“If you think about being a law enforcement officer, and an impaired driver takes the life of someone, our hope is that we get to them before that happens,” Christian said. “When we don’t and we see that we could have maybe done something else it hits you hard.”

Christian said the most important thing citizens can do is make a plan on how to get home if they plan on becoming impaired. Booze It and Lose it will run from December 18 through January 1.