CLARKSVILLE, TN – As part of Distracted Driving Month, the Clarksville-Montgomery County Traffic Safety Task Force conducted their annual Distracted-Driving Operation Hands-Free bus tour on April 11.
Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services (MCEMS) provided bus transportation for the Task Force members while Tennessee State Troopers, Clarksville Police, and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies patrolled the nearby areas. Traffic Safety Task Force Members who rode the bus assisted law enforcement officers in identifying hands-free violations, seatbelt violations, and other road hazards to help limit traffic incidents and crashes.
Stats from the three-hour bus tour resulted in 21 hands-free citations including 23 seatbelt violations, 8 speeding citations, and 42 other driving-related violations.
“The Operation Hands-Free Bus Tour is a great way for our Traffic Safety Task Force Agencies to unite on our roads and highways to bring awareness to distracted driving. Those who work traffic incidents have seen too many unnecessary tragedies due to distracted driving. We want people to focus and practice safe driving,” said Montgomery County Driver Safety Administrator Lisa McClain.
“Operation Hands-Free” aims to reduce distracted driving crashes and fatalities by increasing enforcement efforts and educating citizens about Tennessee’s Hands-Free law.
“Cooperation between multiple agencies in a community is vital to keeping the citizens safe and allows law enforcement to make a greater presence on the roadways and bring awareness to the importance of not being distracted while driving. We observed numerous traffic infractions and conducted several traffic stops on the tour. The event was successful and hopefully brought awareness to the importance of remaining distraction-free when driving,” said Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Denis Bowles.
Learn more about Tennessee’s Hands-free law at www.HandsFreeTN.com.
To access distracted driving crash data provided by Tennessee’s Integrated Traffic Analysis Network (TITAN), visit www.tn.gov/safety/stats/dashboards/distracted-driver.html.
Participating agencies include the Clarksville-Montgomery County Safety Task Force includes members from Tennessee Highway Safety Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services, Montgomery County Driver Safety Office, Montgomery County Highway Department, Montgomery County Health Department, Montgomery County Mayor’s Office, Montgomery County Emergency Management, Clarksville Police Department, Clarksville Fire & Rescue, Clarksville Street Department, Clarksville Gas & Water Safety, Clarksville-Montgomery County School System Transportation, Ft. Campbell Military and Civilian Police, APSU Campus Police, Nashville Metro Police, and others.
