This Fourth of July holiday brings a new danger to those who choose to drink and drive. Starting July 1, the legal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) drops from .10% to .08%.

“We believe this important change in the law is going to save a lot of lives,” said Department of Safety Commissioner Fred Phillips. “Drinking and driving is never safe, and the new limits will help us get more drunk drivers off the road before they hurt themselves or someone else.”

This year's official 78-hour holiday period will begin at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, July 3 and continue until midnight Sunday, July 7. All available Tennessee Highway Patrol Troopers will be on the roads during that time, working to keep motorists safe during the holiday.

During last year's 102-hour Fourth of July holiday period, 16 people died in 14 fatal crashes on Tennessee roads, a fatality rate of one death per six hours and 23 minutes. Thirteen of those killed were vehicle occupants, two were motorcyclists, and one was operating a farm tractor. Four of those deaths (25%) occurred in alcohol-related crashes. Six of the 13 vehicle occupants killed (46%) were not wearing seat belts, and five of those six (83%) were ejected from their vehicles.

“This brings home the importance of not only staying sober, but wearing your seat belts as well,” said THP Colonel Lynn Pitts. “Those are the two most important things people can do to save lives on the road.”

The highest number of deaths in a 102-hour Fourth of July holiday period occurred in 1996, when 27 people were killed in traffic crashes in Tennessee, a fatality rate of one death per three hours and 42 minutes. The lowest number of deaths in a 78-hour Fourth of July holiday period occurred in 1998, when 8 people were killed, a fatality rate of one death per nine hours and 45 minutes.