CLARKSVILLE, TN – As part of Distracted Driving Month, the Clarksville-Montgomery County Traffic Safety Task Force held its annual Hands-Free Bus Drive for Operation Distracted Driving on April 11.

Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services (MCEMS) provided bus transportation for Task Force members, while Tennessee State Police, Clarksville Police, and Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies patrolled nearby areas. Traffic Safety Task Force members who rode the bus helped law enforcement identify hands-free violations, seat belt violations and other road hazards to help limit traffic incidents and crashes. .

Statistics from the three-hour bus ride resulted in 21 hands-free tickets, including 23 seat belt violations, 8 speeding tickets, and 42 other driving-related violations.

“Operation Hands-Free Bus Spin is a great way for our Traffic Safety Task Force agencies to come together on our roads and highways to raise awareness about 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 Lisa McClain, Montgomery County Traffic Safety Administrator.

“Operation Hands-Free” aims to reduce crashes and deaths from distracted driving by increasing law enforcement efforts and educating citizens about Tennessee’s Hands-Free law.

“Cooperation between multiple agencies in a community is vital to keeping citizens safe and allows law enforcement to have a greater presence on the roads and raise awareness about the importance of not being distracted while driving. We observed numerous traffic violations and made several traffic stops along the way. The event was a success and hopefully raised awareness about the importance of staying distraction-free while 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 the Tennessee 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, which includes members of the Tennessee Office of Highway Safety, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Department of Transportation, General Conference of Attorneys of Tennessee, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services and the Montgomery County Office of Driver Safety. , Montgomery County Highway Department, Montgomery County Health Department, Montgomery County Mayor’s Office, Montgomery County Emergency Management, Clarksville Police Department, Clarksville Fire and Rescue, Clarksville Street Department , Clarksville Water and Gas Safety, Clarksville-Montgomery County School System Transportation, Ft. Campbell Military and Civil Police, APSU Campus Police, Metro Nashville Police and others.