Manchester Police Department is partnering with the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office to step up seat belt enforcement from May 18 to 31, just ahead of one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
“Every day, unbuckled motorists are losing their lives in motor vehicle crashes,” said Sgt. Chris Patterson. “As we approach Memorial Day weekend and the summer vacation season, we want to make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash – buckling up.”
Tennessee reached its highest seat belt usage percentage last year at 87.71%. However, Tennessee is still considered a “low use” state on a national level. According to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, over half of Tennessee’s traffic fatalities in 2014 were not restrained at the time of the crash.
Each year, the University of Tennessee Center for Transportation Research performs an observational seat belt survey. The results of this survey indicate that male pickup truck occupants have the lowest rate of seat belt use statewide. This statistic holds true for both rural and urban areas.
Last month, Governor Haslam signed a bill that will increase Tennessee’s seat belt fine beginning in January 2016. “The fine is more than doubling,” said Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Tracy Trott. “The statistics speak for themselves – when we have more people buckling up, we have more people walking away from crashes. Start making the smart decision now before it costs you.”
“Our law enforcement partners receive funding each year specifically to take part in this campaign,” said Governor’s Highway Safety Office Director Kendell Poole. “They will be looking for seat belt violators, and they will ticket you. If you think not wearing your seat belt doesn’t impact anyone but you, you are wrong. Every citizen is impacted by medical and emergency expenses, lost productivity, increased insurance premiums, and property loss. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the pain and suffering of your friends, family, and the law enforcement and emergency personnel working the crash.”
For more information on seat belt safety, visit www.tntrafficsafety.org

Over the past few days the Tullahoma Police Department has received numerous reports of vandalism to vehicles across the city involving a BB or Pellet gun. Anyone with information regarding these crimes or those who may have witnessed suspicious activity in their neighborhood is asked to call the Tullahoma Police Department at 931-455-0530.
Please continue to be vigilant within your communities and neighborhoods. All area law enforcement ask you to report any suspicious activity to them immediately.

With the summer’s festival season approaching, the State Fire Marshal’s Office is reminding residents that it is illegal to fly flame-fueled sky lanterns in Tennessee without a professional fireworks license.
Also known as Chinese or wish lanterns, they can cause fires on the ground or on rooftops when they land and can also be a hazard to livestock that might consume them.
Under a 2011 state law, sky lanterns can be confiscated and destroyed if found in the possession of anyone without a proper license for flame effects, pyrotechnics or outdoor displays.
According to the fire marshal’s office, sky lanterns pose an additional danger this year because of dry conditions in many areas of the state.

The price of cigarettes is going up in Tennessee, but the proceeds won’t be landing in state tax coffers.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that under a new law signed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, the minimum markup on cigarettes – which retailers say covers the “cost of doing business” – will rise from 41 cents on each pack of cigarettes to 76 cents per pack over the next two years.
That 85 percent increase in the markup is projected to direct $129 million into retailers’ bottom lines by the third year of the law. It’s the first change in the state’s cigarette markup in 65 years.
Tennessee is among 25 states that enacted similar laws largely between the 1940s and 1960s to protect smaller retailers from competition.