The Tennessee Department of Transportation Governor’s Highway Safety Office, Tennessee Titans and Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security are once again teaming up to remind Tennessee football fans that real Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk this Super Bowl weekend.

“If your Super Bowl game plan includes celebrating with alcohol make sure you have a sober, designated driver,” said TDOT Commissioner John Schroer. “Law enforcement officials will be working overtime to ensure that Tennessee’s roads are safe, so if you drink and drive this weekend, chances are you’ll be caught.”

Nearly 7,500 Titans fans promised to be the designated driver for friends and family during the 2011 season, making the Titans one of the top teams in the AFC South for designated driver pledges. Today, the Titans, TDOT’s GHSO and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security honored some of those designated drivers with an exclusive tour of LP Field.

“In addition to supporting the Titans this past football season, these fans made a very important commitment – one that saves lives,” said GHSO Director Kendell Poole. “By pledging to be a designated driver, they made sure their friends and family had a safe ride home from LP Field and did their part to keep Tennessee roads free of impaired drivers.”

This season, Titans fans joined more than 220,000 NFL fans in the Designated Driver program, which is a collaboration among all 32 NFL teams, 31 stadiums, concessionaires, beer distributors and brewers, broadcasters, law enforcement agencies, and traffic safety experts.

“We’re proud of our fans’ dedication to responsible behavior this season and we want all football fans to follow their leadership this weekend,” added Don MacLachlan, Titans Executive Vice President of Administration and Facilities. “Handing your keys to a sober driver or taking a cab will always make you a winner.”

“This Super Bowl Sunday, we want to see zero alcohol-related fatalities in Tennessee,” said Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons. “Between the sobriety checkpoints, roving patrols, and concerned citizens, if you choose to drive impaired this weekend, we plan to catch you.”

According to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, troopers arrested 45 people for driving under the influence during the 2011 Super Bowl weekend. Between Friday, February 4, 2011 and Sunday, February 6 at 11:59 p.m. there were 5 people killed on Tennessee roadways. Two of those deaths occurred in alcohol related crashes.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Tracy Trott reminded football fans that drinking and driving is not worth the risk. “Not only do you risk killing yourself or someone else, the cost of a DUI conviction is significant. Violators face jail time, loss of their driver license, higher insurance rates, hefty legal fees, and many other expenses.”

“We want everyone to make the right call for the Super Bowl by passing their keys to a sober driver,” added Poole. “If you’re hosting a party, make sure your celebration doesn’t end in tragedy. Designate a sober driver and have phone numbers for local taxi services on hand for those who’ve had too much to drink.”

For more information, please visit www.StopImpairedDriving.org or www.TeamCoalition.org.

The THP will participate in a multi-jurisdictional DUI Blitz with several law enforcement agencies from 2 p.m. through 2 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday. The collaborative effort will involve saturation patrols, extensive bar checks and a pre-arranged sobriety checkpoint. A listing of THP sobriety and driver’s license checkpoints is attached to this release and can be found at http://www.tn.gov/safety/SuperbowlCheckpoints.pdf.

“We are committed to reducing the number of fatal wrecks and serious injury crashes across the state,” said Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons. “This task is particularly important during the holidays. The Fourth of July is considered one of the deadliest holidays of the year in terms of alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities. Our job is to see that citizens are safe on Tennessee roadways this weekend.”

During the 2010 Fourth of July holiday weekend, 15 people died in 14 crashes on Tennessee roadways. That’s a fatality rate of one death every five hours and 12 minutes. Of the nine vehicle occupants killed last year, six (67%) were not wearing seatbelts. Four motorcyclists also died during last year’s July 4th holiday weekend, as well as two pedestrians. Four of the deaths, or 27 percent, occurred in alcohol-related crashes.

“We will be showing zero tolerance during this holiday period,” stressed THP Colonel Tracy Trott. “If anyone is caught driving impaired, they will be arrested. Not only do violators risk jail time, but they also risk losing their life or killing an innocent victim. The consequences of drinking and driving are real – don’t put yourself or anyone else in that position.”

During the Fourth of July weekend in 2009, national statistics indicate 40 percent of drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. Nationwide, in 2009, 10,839 people were killed in alcohol impaired traffic crashes. That number accounts for nearly 32 percent of all traffic-related fatalities in the United States.

In Tennessee in 2010, 1,031 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes. Preliminary statistics show there were 289 people who were killed in traffic crashes that involved alcohol (28%).

Alcohol plays a big role in motorcycle fatalities too. Forty-two percent of motorcycle riders who were killed in single-vehicle crashes nationwide in 2009 had BAC levels of .08 or higher, as well as 54 percent of nighttime weekend fatalities. Thirty-seven of the 138 motorcycle riders who were killed in Tennessee in 2010 had alcohol involvement.

“Sometimes there are no second chances,” added Colonel Trott. “Get this one right…Don’t drink and drive.”

In 2011, preliminary statistics indicate 428 people have died on Tennessee roadways, a decrease of 82 deaths compared to 510 fatalities at this same time in 2010.

In addition to sobriety and driver license checkpoints scheduled across the state, the Highway Patrol is teaming up with local law enforcement agencies to conduct multi-jurisdictional enforcement efforts. THP Knoxville will join the Governor’s Highway Safety Office (GHSO), the Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office for a press conference at 2 p.m. (EST) on Friday, July 1, announcing their holiday enforcement plans. The event will be held at the THP Knoxville District Headquarters.

Also, THP’s Nashville District has teamed up with the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department for a nighttime sobriety checkpoint on Hobson Pike, Saturday, July 2, and will also assist the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department with a sobriety checkpoint on that same night.

A list of scheduled sobriety and driver license checkpoints for the Fourth of July Holiday period are attached. Statistical data for 2010 Fourth of July holiday period is also attached.

For more information, please visit www.StopImpairedDriving.org