Nashville, Tennessee --- The Tennessee Highway Patrol will be out in force this weekend, working to get impaired drivers off the highways. Sobriety and driver license checkpoints will be utilized statewide on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day to prevent serious crashes.

State Troopers hope to keep fatalities near or below a record-low for the upcoming holiday weekend. Last year, the nine fatal crashes in Tennessee were near the state's all-time low of eight people killed in the 1982-83 New Year's holiday period.

"Drinking and driving don't mix on New Year's Eve or at any other time," said Interim Department of Safety Commissioner Gerald Nicely. "If your celebration includes alcohol, designate a sober driver. You can also protect yourself by wearing safety restraints and obeying speed and other traffic laws."

The New Year's holiday is traditionally a high risk period for alcohol-related crashes and fatalities. Over the New Year holiday period in 2005, four (44%) of the nine people killed died in alcohol-related crashes. One of the best defenses against an impaired driver is wearing safety restraints. Yet, in six (75%) of the eight vehicle crashes, crash victims were not belted. Three (50%) of the six victims were ejected from their vehicles.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that in the month of December alone last year, 1,201 people were killed nationwide in crashes involving a driver/motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol level of .01 or higher. In these crashes, 1,033 involved a driver with a BAC level of .08 or above, the legal limit in Tennessee .

This year's official New Year Holiday begins at 6:00pm on Friday, December 29 th, 2006 and continues through midnight on Monday, January 1st, 2007. This will be a 78-hour holiday period.

The Tennessee Department of Safety's mission is (www.tennessee.gov/safety) to ensure the safety and general welfare of the public. The department encompasses the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Office of Homeland Security and Driver License Services. General areas of responsibility include law enforcement, safety education, motorist services and terrorism prevention.