LOCAL NEWS | As the say goes, if you booze it, you lose it and local deputies will be doing their park to protect the public from impaired drivers this holiday season.

Beginning on Friday, December 15, the Metro Moore County Sheriff’s Department will partner with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) to increase impaired-driving enforcement as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over nationwide mobilization. 

Increased enforcement means more patrols and possibly sobriety checkpoints on local roads.

“Our department will be increasing patrols in an effort to target drunk and/or drug impaired drivers.  MCSO has seen an increase in DUI arrests within the last year. This is largely due to several of our deputies receiving specialized training in the detection of drunk and/or drug impaired drivers. Remember, one bad decision can have devastating effects. Celebrate safely and arrive alive,” state Moore County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Dustin White.

The consequences of a single DUI conviction for a first-time offender in the state of Tennessee may include costly fines, court costs, legal fees, jail time, mandatory drug and alcohol treatment, and/or the installation of an ignition interlock device in his/her vehicle.  

The THSO provides grant funding to support the Metro Moore County Sheriff’s Office during the Booze It and Lose It holiday campaign to prevent unbudgeted overtime and other expenses that related to enhanced enforcement periods.

For more information about the THSO, please visit www.tntrafficsafety.org.•

{The Lynchburg Times is the only locally-owned and locally-operated community newspaper in Lynchburg, Tennessee. We cover local news and events as well as the tourism and whiskey industries in southern, middle Tennessee. Click here to subscribe.}