State troopers emphasize safety over Memorial Day holiday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Highway Patrol is taking steps to ensure safety over the Memorial Day holiday.

The 96-hour holiday period that starts at 12:01 a.m. on Friday will include “no refusal” enforcement, which allows law enforcement officials to seek search warrants for blood samples in cases involving suspected impaired drivers.

Officials also plan to use a variety of traffic safety enforcement tools to reduce the number of serious injury and fatal crashes across the state.

Last year, nine people were killed in vehicular crashes during the Memorial Day period. Four of the nine were not wearing safety restraints and two of the traffic fatalities occurred in an alcohol-related crash.

State troopers arrested 162 individuals on suspicion of DUI and ticketed more than 2,000 motorists for violation of the seat belt law.