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Hamilton County Drunk Drivers All Over The Road

1,657 views · Published 22 January 2013 · 2:38 · Indexed 20 October 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2013 · News & Politics

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by John Madewell  A Tennessee Highway Patrol's crackdown on DUI over the New Year's holiday weekend revealed a staggering result. THP worked 16 counties across the state, including the major metropolitan areas of Hamilton and Knox Counties. Troopers arrested almost four times as many drunk drivers in Hamilton compared to Knox County.31 people were busted for DUI in Hamilton and only 8 in the larger Knox County. The crackdown was enforced from Friday at 6:00p.m until midnight New Year's Day. THP Lt. John Harmon of the Chattanooga district had one possible explanation for the difference. The Tennessee Highway Patrol was very aggressive this New Year's weekend, we utilized all available manpower. We pulled in troopers from all over the district that wanted to utilize the overtime, Lt. Harmon said.The Chattanooga District of the THP set aside money to cover overtime for this particular crackdown. The district covers Hamilton and Marion Counties. A total of 75 personnel work in both counties. 59 of those were involved in the crackdown. Lt. Harmon said, We targeted them to utilize this enforcement action. We increased our efforts with all our troopers throughout the district, utilized every available man-hour that we had available. We utilized administrative personnel, put everyone on 12 hour shifts.NewsChannel 9 reached out to the Knoxville District of the THP for personnel comparison. That district covered Knox and Sevier Counties. As of this report, our call hadn't been returned.Meanwhile, we also contacted Julie Strike of the East Tennessee Chapter of MADD about the 31 DUI's. 31 people made a very bad decision to drive that night. They could've ended up killing someone but thankfully our police officers were out, keeping our roads safe. Strike said. THP worked 10 crashes in Hamilton and Marion counties during the crackdown. None of them involved alcohol.Strike added it was just ridiculous people would drive when so many cab companies offer free rides during the holiday period. Strike works out of the Knoxville area and lives in McMinn County. She also covers MADD issues in the Chattanooga area because there isn't a MADD chapter here. If you would like to volunteer, you can reach her at (865) 522-5055 or by email at [email protected].

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