Smokies to Ramp up DUI Enforcement Activities

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
News Release

Immediate Release                                    
Date:  June 18, 2010                                       
Contact:  Bob Miller
865/436-1207

Rangers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park have announced plans to expand vehicle checkpoints and traffic patrols in an effort to provide a safer visit for the approximately 20 million people who drive through the Park and/or travel the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Spur and Foothills Parkway each year.

According to Acting Chief Ranger Steve Kloster, “Managers of national parks have two essential missions.  One is to preserve and protect the Park’s natural and cultural resources in perpetuity. The other is to provide for the safe enjoyment of those resources by the Park’s visitors. In addition to conducting surveillance activities for plant and animal poachers, we are planning to expand our efforts and vigilance to prevent alcohol-related accidents and fatalities.”

“Each year this national park averages six fatal injuries to Park visitors,” Kloster said. “And of that number, two are a result of motor vehicle accidents.  We are making a concerted effort to reduce or eliminate these accidental visitor deaths, most of whom are innocent victims who are killed by impaired drivers,” he continued.

Using a $25,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Park plans to conduct two high visibility enforcement efforts, including sobriety checkpoints and saturation enforcement patrols on Park roads.  One wave is set to occur over a 2-week period around the July 4 holiday period with the second effort set for early September and the Labor Day holiday.  Operations will take place at all the Park’s heavily-traveled locations, including the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Spur, Cades Cove, Oconaluftee, and the Foothills Parkway.  The Park plans to call upon and work collaboratively with neighboring municipal police, sheriff’s departments, and state highway patrols to supplement its efforts and enhance motorist and officer safety.

“We plan to announce the specific days and locations in advance.  Our goal is to make people think twice about having that ‘one for the road’ or, better yet agreeing upon a designated driver, to start with rather than simply write a lot of tickets or arrest the most drivers,” Kloster continued.

-NPS-