Advice From National Park Service “SLOW DOWN”

The National Park Service has a world of advice to those visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park…SLOW DOWN. The National Park Service has announced that over the next month, park rangers in cooperation with partner agencies will conduct increased traffic safety enforcement throughout the park. Law enforcement rangers will be stationed throughout the park to enforce speed limits. They will use both marked and unmarked vehicles, as well as advanced technologies such as RADAR and LIDAR. The goal is to combat excessive speeding and reduce motor vehicle collisions in the park. Law enforcement will also be watching for reckless driving, unsecured loads, impaired driving and other traffic violations. It turns out that speeding is a problem in the national park.

To date this year, Great Smoky Mountain National Park rangers have responded to more than 152 motor vehicle collisions and excessive speed has been a significant contributor to those collisions. Since 2013, the park has recorded 28 fatal motor vehicle collisions. Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of fatalities in the national park. Park officials also say that slowing down also protects wildlife. Park rangers respond to many reports of animals injured by motor vehicles every year.