Law enforcement agencies across Tennessee plan to use a new state law to crack down on drunk driving this holiday weekend.
The “no refusal” law allows officers to obtain a search warrant for a blood alcohol content (BAC) test for any driver they suspect of driving while intoxicated and who refuses a breathalyzer.
Under Tennessee law, a driver refusing to submit to a BAC test has their license suspended for six months automatically.
The new law allows officers to go even further and have blood drawn.
This weekend’s enforcement, which begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, will take place in 16 counties across the state.
They include: Bedford, Campbell, Chester, Cumberland, Jefferson, Lincoln, McMinn, Meigs, Roane, Robertson, Rutherford, Shelby, Sullivan, Tipton, Warren and Weakley counties.
The state says it chose to target those counties because impaired driving and fatal crashes have increased there this year.