FALL BRANCH -- The Governor's Highway Safety Office and Tennessee Highway Patrol announced a new joint-effort with law enforcement agencies in Sullivan, Greene and Cocke counties that seeks to drive down the number of fatal traffic accidents that occur in those areas.
Known as the SMILE Campaign (Saving Many Individual Lives through Enforcement), the initiative will combine increased enforcement efforts and education in an attempt to reduce impaired, distracted and aggressive driving.
"We have people getting involved in crashes that are impaired, whether that's drugs or alchohol, whatever it may be," Governor's Safety Office East Tennessee Law Enforcement Liason Steve Dillard said. "We're trying to take a proactive step on keeping our citizens safe up hear and to let them understand that we're serious about the laws. It's doesn't take any effort to get that seatbelt on."
Dillard said Sullivan County saw a its number of fatal accidents double to 28 in 2012, while the entire 13-county THP Branch District was up 32 fatalities year-over-year in 2012. From 2010 to 2012, Sullivan County alone experience 70 traffic-related deaths. Combined with Greene and Cocke counties, the number of fatalities rises to 147.
So far in 2013, THP Lt. Col. Dean Hurley said the number of fatal accidents in 2013 are down compared to this time last year.
Hurley credited that success to increased enforcement by state and local law enforcement.
"We are suceeding by aggressive DUI arrest, by aggressive seatbelt enforcement, by observing and taking action against distracted drivers," Hurley said. "We now utilize data driven enforcement whereby THP is strategically placing Troopers where DUIs are prevelant, and crashes have been occurring as well, and these Troopers are in these locations now trying to curb these crashes and arrest these drunk drivers and get them off the road, and it's been a success."
Dillard said the campaign is designed to keep the downard trend going in 2013 by using multi-jurisdictional cooperation to increase manpower in Sullivan, Greene and Cocke counties and through saturation patrols and more safety checkpoints.
"We want our drivers to know that we want them to be safe, slow down, please don't drink and drive and mostly, please wear your seatbelts," Dillard said.