San Diego & California Driving Under The Influence Arrests Decrease During 2010-11 Holiday Season

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department announced the final DUI arrests and fatal accident numbers for the 2010-2011 holiday season. According to the Sheriff’s press release, 14 county law enforcement agencies contributed to this year’s efforts through DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols from 12:01 a.m., Friday, December 17, 2010, through midnight, Sunday, January 2, 2011.

A total of 715 people were arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol and/or drugs. This was 91 fewer arrests than the 806 DUI arrests made in 2009/2010 during this same period. Two deaths are attributed to drunk drivers. One fatal DUI accident occurred on December 18th, in El Cajon. The second fatality occurred in La Mesa on January 1st, 2011.

Throughout California, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers arrested 961 people for suspected drunk driving and 25 people died on roadways between 6:00 p.m. Friday, December 31st, 2010, and 11:59 p.m. Sunday, January 2nd, 2011, according to signonsandiego.com. This was down from last year’s statistics in which the CHP reported 1,388 arrests and 36 deaths a year ago. (Note: Last year’s reporting period was four days as compared to this year’s three days.)