Memorial Day is always a busy weekend for DUI arrests and accidents. This year was no different: reports from Burlingame, CA and San Diego, CA show high arrest numbers at DUI checkpoints and increased enforcement. DUI-related arrests across the state have also risen since last year.
On May 25th, Friday night, almost 30 vehicles were stopped during a DUI Saturation Patrol in the Peninsula region in California. The Burlingame Police Department had increased enforcement between 6pm and 2am to lower DUI incidents. Police conducted 29 enforcement stops and 2 field sobriety tests. One driver was charged for driving without a license.
In San Diego, the California Highway Patrol reported 57 arrests for drunken driving violations in San Diego County between 6pm Friday to 6 am on Sunday. In comparison, officers arrested 36 people in the county during the same time last year.
Across the state of California, the CHP arrested 674 people for suspected DUI violations over the weekend, beginning on May 25, Friday night. This shows a significant increase up from last year, when the number of drunken-driving related CHP arrests was 599.
14 traffic fatalities were reported across California by law enforcement during the weekend, which matches the figure from last year.
Studies show that a whopping 30% of California drivers in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their system at the time of the accident. A higher number of active drivers tested positive for drugs that can impair driving (14%) than did for alcohol (7.3%). Of the drugs that can impair driving, marijuana was the leading drug at 7.4%, slightly more prevalent than alcohol.
Remember: drive safe and sober to avoid accidents!
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