DUI Arrests Up, Highway Fatalities Down

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Apparently the statewide law enforcement agency crackdown on intoxicated drivers this holiday season has netted an increased number of arrests and contributed to fewer fatalities. CHP arrests of DUI suspects this weekend were up 11.7% over the same period last year. At the same time the number of alcohol related traffic accident fatalities across the State decreased, yet increased in Orange County.

According to Kimberly Edds in today's Orange County Register:

A total of 59 drivers were arrested on suspicion of driving drunk and two people died in what were believed to be alcohol-related crashes on Orange County roads over the Christmas holiday weekend, up slightly from last year, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Fifty people were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last year, but no one died in DUI-related accidents.
Across the state, CHP officers arrested 1,351 on suspicion of drunken driving, a spike from 1,209 in 2005. But fewer people died across the state - 29 drunken-driving related deaths this year, compared with 39 last year, the CHP said.
Eleven people who died were not wearing their seat belts, CHP officer Alicia Contreras said.
The arrests and fatalities occurred between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. yesterday.