1,000 Drunk Drivers Nabbed During Holiday
Thursday, Jan 7, 2010 | Updated 2:58 PM PDT
Friends don't let friends drive drunk.
Those who hit the egg nog too hard during Christmas were more likely to have been caught this year, if they got behind the wheel.
More than 1,000 people were arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles county during a weeklong campaign lasting through Christmas Day.
AVOID, an anti-DUI coalition, reported that 1,030 DUI arrests were made from Dec. 18, 2008, through Christmas Day, compared to 969 during the same period last year.
The California Highway Patrol, one of the coalition partners, was especially busy this holiday weekend, nabbing over 200 motorists for driving under the influence on Los Angeles County freeway, the agency reported in a separate statement.
The CHP made 236 DUI arrests in L.A. County this year, compared to the 158 last year between 6:01 p.m. Christmas Eve and 6 a.m. Sunday. But there were no traffic deaths during that time, compared to four during the same period last year, the CHP reported.
AVOID members reminded motorists that the year-end holiday period is among the year's deadliest and encouraged them to report drunk drivers.
"If you see a car swerving all over the road, driving dangerously without headlights at night or signaling one way and turning the other, make that call to 911,'' Glendora Police Chief Chuck Montoya said in the AVOID statement.
Law enforcement officials will be conducting more anti-DUI efforts in nearly every city in Los Angeles County around the New Year's holiday, AVOID said, adding that data will be collected through Jan. 3, 2010.
