The Tennessee Highway Patrol issued 1,816 distracted driving citations during a crackdown from April 2 through April 4. That’s 911 more citations than were issued during 2017’s crackdown.
The Tennessee Highway Safety Office and the Tennessee Highway Patrol joined local law enforcement for Tennessee’s third statewide bus tour to crack down on distracted driving.
In 2017, the THP provided two large, black and tan buses marked with THP logos to help promote awareness for the initiative. This year, the focus shifted toward the effectiveness of enforcement efforts, which meant utilizing additional passenger vehicles that could travel more efficiently on the highways.
Officers representing various agencies riding the passenger vehicles communicated with ground units after observing traffic violations to initiate the execution of enforcement action. Depending on available resources, enforcement lasted between two to eight hours each day.