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.

The 2011 Christmas holiday period begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, December 23, and runs through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, December 26, while the New Year’s holiday period commences at 6 p.m., Friday, December 30, and concludes at 11:59 p.m., Monday, January 2, 2012.

“This is the time of year when many people are traveling to share the holiday with family and friends,” Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons said. “Our goal is for motorists to reach their destinations safely. We take this responsibility seriously throughout the year, and especially during holiday seasons.”

The holiday season is one of the deadliest and most dangerous times of the year due to an increase in impaired driving. During the 2010 Christmas holiday period six people were killed in traffic crashes on Tennessee roadways. That represented one death every 13 hours. Alcohol was involved in 20 percent of those crashes and two of the five (40%) vehicle occupants killed were not wearing safety restraints. According to department records, the fewest number of people were killed during last year’s New Year’s holiday period with six vehicular fatalities. Nearly 17 percent (16.7%) of those fatalities occurred in alcohol-related crashes.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nationwide impaired driving fatalities have dropped from 10,759 in 2009 to 10,228 in 2010, a 4.9 percent decline. In 2010, 283 people died in Tennessee traffic crashes involving a driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. That’s a 5.4 percent decline from the 299 impaired driving deaths in 2009, and a 7.5 percent decline from the 306 impaired driving deaths in 2008.

“We are encouraged by the decline in impaired vehicular fatalities in Tennessee and nationwide,” THP Colonel Tracy Trott said. “Our agency has placed a greater emphasis on identifying and removing impaired drivers from state roadways, increasing the number of DUI arrests by 38 percent since last year. This holiday season will be no exception. If we catch you driving drunk, you will be arrested.”

In 2010, there were 1,031 traffic fatalities in Tennessee, an increase of just over 4.5 percent from 986 fatalities in 2009. As of December 21, preliminary statistics indicate that 908 people have died on Tennessee roadways this year, a decrease of 109 deaths (10.7%) compared to 1,017 fatalities at this same time a year ago.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol recommends these simple tips for a safe holiday season:

· Plan ahead: Designate a sober driver before going out and give that person your keys.

· If you’re impaired, call a taxi, use mass transit or call a sober friend or family member to get you home safely.

· Wear a seat belt in a vehicle or protective gear on a motorcycle. It’s your best defense in a crash.

· If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact your local law enforcement immediately;

· And remember, “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”. If you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.

State Troopers will utilize several enforcement tools over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday, such as saturation patrols, bar checks and driver license and sobriety checkpoints.