The LAPD said this week there has been a sharp increase so far this year in the number of traffic fatalities tied to intoxicated drivers.
"In reality, it is a 24-hour-a-day problem," said LAPD Chief Michel Moore, after raising the possibility the driver who collided with a mother and her daughter in the mid-Wilshire area Tuesday morning was intoxicated.
The woman's 6-year-old daughter was critically injured in the crash, which happened as the two were walking toward Hancock Park Elementary School, where the girl is a first grade student, authorities said.
The LAPD said Wednesday the driver was not being arrested and the cause of the crash was still under investigation.
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Traffic data showed 10 DUI fatalities were recorded between January 1 and April 15, 2023, compared with 5 during the same period in 2022.
Mid-Wilshire Crash
Moore said LA's DUI death increase appears to parallel an overall increase in collisions as people returned to commuting, work, and school -- following years of home-centric living during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"And recently, an increase in DUI-related collisions, particularly in our fatal collisions, is troubling," he said.
The data showed the overall number of pedestrian fatalities so far this year, including cases flagged as DUI-related, was 48, compared with 50 during the same time period in 2022.
