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California’s DUI deaths last year reached their lowest level since 1952, and they went through the largest annual decrease in 14 years, according to data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A total of 791 people were killed in DUI crashes on California roadways last year, compared with 950 in 2009. There were 792 deaths in 1952, but data was recorded differently then.

Safety officials credit a record number of DUI checkpoints conducted in 2010 as partly responsible for the sharp reduction in DUI deaths. The Office of Traffic Safety allocated $16.8 million in federal funds to law enforcement agencies to conduct 2,553 DUI checkpoints in 2010, up from the $11.7 million allocated to 1,740 checkpoints in 2009.

According to federal officials, checkpoints have provided the most effective results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, and 88 percent of Californians surveyed report they support the use of checkpoints.

Other factors at work: Mothers Against Drunk Driving has campaigned for harsher laws since its inception in 1980; Caltrans runs messages on electronic freeway signs urging motorists to call 911; and Alameda County is one of four counties in the state with a pilot program requiring DUI offenders to fit their cars with interlock ignitions so they can’t drink and drive.
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The numbers show the Washington State Patrol is tough on drunken drivers: Troopers arrested almost 20,000 last year.

For the effort, the International Association of Chiefs of Police named the Washington State Patrol as the top DUI enforcement agency in North America.

The honor recognizes agencies for “year-round efforts to detect and apprehend impaired drivers and to address impaired driving through policies, officer training, and public information and education.” The state patrol is due to receive the award in October at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Chicago.

Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste has told front-line troopers they have no higher priority than removing drunken drivers from the road.

“We consider every DUI arrest a potential life saved,” he said in a statement. “We never know which drunks will kill, but we know with certainty that some of them will. We’re committed to taking all of them off the road.”

Statewide, police agencies arrest about 40,000 impaired drivers each year. The state patrol accounts for about half of the total.
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Officers took 145 drunken drivers off Tri-City roads during a special holiday season DUI enforcement campaign.

Numbers released Wednesday for the Drive Hammered, Get Nailed emphasis patrols show 102 drivers were arrested for suspected DUI in Benton County and 43 in Franklin County. Statewide, 3,577 impaired drivers were stopped and arrested.

The statewide campaign, sponsored by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, ran from Thanksgiving to Jan. 2. In the Tri-Cities, officers from Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, West Richland and Prosser police departments, and Benton County and Franklin County sheriff’s offices, participated.

Washington State Patrol Lt. Roger Wilbur said there were no DUI-related traffic fatalities on Tri-City roads during the enforcement campaign. The last fatal crash was the Nov. 28 wrong-way collision on Interstate 82 that killed three people.

Investigators still are waiting on toxicology test results on the wrong-way driver, but there was no indication that alcohol or drugs were involved, officials have said.

Troopers did see an increase in DUI arrests during the New Year’s weekend when compared with past years, but only investigated one DUI-related collision, which resulted in no injuries, Wilbur said.

“That was the good news,” he said. “Even though we saw an increase in DUI arrests, we were happy … that we didn’t have more DUI-related collisions. Hopefully we’re taking them off before they’re crashing their cars … and being removed before they’re able to hurt someone.”

Troopers made 12 DUI arrests from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2, which was more than double the number made during the New Year’s holiday in 2009 (four) and 2008 (five).

“It’s a little disappointing that more people didn’t make some prior arrangements before heading out,” Wilbur said. “Twelve (arrests) … show us they are still out there, and we still have some work to do.”

Police jailed 27 Tri-City drivers suspected of being impaired during the New Year’s weekend, according to jail booking logs.

While troopers stayed busy with drunken drivers, Kennewick police Sgt. Ken Lattin said he saw New Year’s partiers making good choices.

“More people were taking advantage, finding other ways home,” Lattin said. “On New Year’s Eve and Jan. 1, there were more cabs than I have ever seen in the downtown parkade — cabs and limos.”

Lattin said he made 20 traffic stops in six hours of extra enforcement on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and didn’t have a DUI driver until his 19th stop.

“Everybody I stopped had drunk people in the car … but a lot of people were using designated drivers,” he said.

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The Illinois State Police, District 15, announced the results of their Holiday DUI Enforcement Activity of arrests made by troopers from period of Dec. 17 to January 2.

Troopers made 52 arrests of drivers under the influence of alcohol and or drugs while operating a motor vehicle on the Illinois Tollway System. The
following individuals were charged with Driving under the Influence including other traffic violations which led to their arrest.

Driving under the Influence of Alcohol and /or drugs is a priority enforcement effort as part of the “Fatal Five”. Other “Fatal Five” enforcement areas are seatbelt usage, improper lane usage, following too closely, and speeding.

Those arrested include:

Maksymillian Tasiow , 22, Downers Grove
Peter Michuda, 44, Mundelein
Mathew Boutcher, 28, Markham
Dwayne Williams, 44, Gary, In.
Nicholas Domdrowski, age 19 of Hinsdale
Benjamin Ptak, age 26 of Bolingbrook
Omar Loeza, age 21 of Mundelein
Stephanie Arneson, 19, Melrose Park
Jose Hernandez-Gomez, 38, Blue Island
James Finn, 60, Fox River Grove
Josephine Chikko, 44, Palatine
Walter Gwizdak, 40, Chicago
Dennis Duberry, 22, DeKalb
Jason Connelly, 31, Justice
Luciano Perez, 27, Chicago
Kristina Kulikowski, 23, Elgin
Colin Cleek, 25, Volo
Erik Adams, 34, Naperville
Curtis Hart, 25, Van Nuys, Ca.
Ramon Sanchez, 19, Sugar Grove
Maher Namatallah, 30, Chicago
Ashley McCann, 26, Antioch
Thomas Grindle, 49, Belvidere
Eric Kirkenmeier, 25, Wheaton
Salvador Valdez, 27, Hammond, In.
Joseph Bartobato, 30, Oak Forest
Alan Bartelmey, 28, Bolingbrook
Ryan Holajn, 25, Arlington Heights
Erika McLaurin-Watkins, 26, Addison
Karl Pretzer, 32 of Warrenville
Alem Jreisat, 26, Hickory Hills
Ramon Aguirre, 35, Lisle
Tyrone Green, 39, Milwaukee, Wi.
David Howorth, age 56, Warrenville
Ronald Jenkins, 53, Chicago
Ryan Peterson, 25, Glenview
Jesus Torres, 24, Elgin
Krzysztof Jurczyk, 44, Des Plaines
Benjamin Hurtedo, 54, Lansing
Stephanie Bobowski, 30 Tinley Park
Joseph Hereth, 43, Hoffman Estates
Matthew Northern,19, Rockford
Keith Embuey, 42, Addison
Tony Chang, 49 of Hoffman Estates
Albert Townsend, 45, Oak Park
Cleo Terrell King, 29, Chicago Ridge
Dariusz Malinowski, 41, Chicago
Danny Dae Kang, 27, Northfield
David Taylor, 34, Romeoville
Dennis Seilheimer, 23, Mundelein
Micah st. John, 22, Wheeling
Brian Juhant, 52, Coal City

While the above mentioned individuals have been charged with a crime, they are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Driving under the Influence of alcohol or drugs is a serious offense which when convicted can result in jail time and fines. Additional expenses can be incurred by the court system for counseling and use of an alco-sensor in your vehicle. Drivers also face the suspension of driving privileges by the Illinois Secretary of State.

Those who drink should consider a designated driver, taxi, or public transportation in place of risking a serious or fatal crash involving driving under the influence.

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Arizona’s DUI task forces made more than 170 driving-under-the-influence arrests during Cinco de Mayo with nearly a third of the drivers cited for extreme DUI.

Statistics released Thursday by Gov. Jan Brewer’s office show that 50 of the 171 DUI arrests Wednesday were drivers having blood-alcohol levels of .15 or higher. That’s well above the 0.08 percent legal limit to operate a vehicle in Arizona.

The statewide task forces had 224 participating officers and deputies for Cinco de Mayo checkpoints. They also report making 160 DUI misdemeanor arrests and 36 DUI drug arrests.

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Pennsylvania State Police made a record 16,900 drunken driving arrests last year, their eighth consecutive record-breaking year for DUI busts, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. At the same time, alcohol-related crash fatalities dropped to 141, a decline of 14 percent, and alcohol-related crashes investigated by state police declined about 1 percent, to 4,625. “It’s clear that our efforts to keep impaired drivers off our roads in Pennsylvania are having a positive impact,” police Commissioner Col. Frank E. Pawlowski said.

The 16,900 arrests in 2009 represented a 4 percent increase over the 16,156 arrests in 2008, state police reported. Col. Pawlowski said expansion of a drug recognition expert program and another program called Operation Nighthawk, which trains police to spot DUI motorists, fueled the department’s enforcement success. In Operation Nighthawk, a group of 40 to 50 state and municipal police officers gather at 6 p.m. on a Friday for about five hours of intensive training. Afterward, they go on roving patrols.

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A Jacksonville woman charged with DUI manslaughter may be part of a growing trend of women drinking and driving.

Sasha Pringle was arrested Saturday night after police said she crashed into another car, sending it over the Buckman Bridge, killing the driver.

Shawn Arnold, a criminal attorney in Jacksonville, said about half of his DUI clients are women. He said that’s a big increase from when he first started practicing law 11 years ago.

“It seemed to be 85 percent or so male,” he said.

From 2008 to 2009, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office had a 3 percent increase in the number of females arrested for DUI.

Nassau County had an increase of 16 percent from 2007 to 2008, although the numbers were slightly down in 2009.

One First Coast woman who didn’t want to be identified, said she was never arrested for drinking and driving, but could have been.

“I probably did it hundreds if not thousands of times. I should have had many DUIs,” she said.

When she heard about Saturday’s deadly crash on the Buckman Bridge, her heart sank, she said.

“It could have been me. I’m just very, very grateful it never was. I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to be responsible for that,” she said.

She doesn’t drink anymore and has been attending alcohol anonymous meetings for years.  She doesn’t know why she started abusing liquor and why she would have ever mixed it with driving.

Arnold said there are several theories as to why more women are drinking and driving.

“There’s more women in the workplace. They seem to have more money and they’re out more often at night now…that seems to have changed the dynamic,” said Arnold.

If you have been arrested for Florida DUI you have only 10 days to request an administrative review hearing in order to avoid automatic license suspension.

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The year did begin with an allegedly intoxicated 27-year-old motorist killing a policeman conducting breathalyser tests on Marine Dive but going by statistics, drunk driving cases have apparently been on reverse gear.

In 2009, the traffic police booked 14,681 drunk motorists, while the figure was 16,450 in 2008. In 2007, since June 20 when the anti-drunk-driving campaign was launched, more than 11,000 people were found to have tanked themselves up instead of their vehicles.

The downward spin in drunk driving, if only by about 2,000 cases, has brought cheer to activists as well as the Mumbai traffic police who feel that their effort has led to this change on the streets. The 2009 data, however, points at another worrying sign. Last year, of the 23.61 lakh people, booked for an array of more than 25-odd violations, ranging from dangerous ones like drunk driving to strange ones like ‘soliciting’, more than 3.76 lakh jumped signals.

With motorists refusing to stop before the white line or the red light, pedestrians are feeling worst hit, literally. After a lawyer was assaulted by a motorcyclist at a signal last year, the oldest and respected lawyers’ body—Bombay Bar Association—through its president advocate Rohit Kapadia got into the act. After studying the situation, he has now moved the Bombay high court, seeking better implementation of traffic rules, especially at signals. The petition that has also raised the issue of “dangerous” free turns and blinking lights at certain junctions, along with the need of increased fine for jay-walking and a cycling-lane, is likely to be heard
on Wednesday.

The number of drunk drivers though seemingly fewer are mainly in the younger age group. They were also, said police, more often than not speeding or driving rashly. Almost one-third drunk drivers are in the age group of 21-25 years of age and another major chunk are aged between 25-30 years. On December 31, 2009, 720 motorists were arrested for drunk driving, of whom 214 were in their early 20s.

In between chaotic traffic and honking vehicles, the police also managed to catch 5,657 people for an offence of “spilling water”, which attracts a small fine. Water tankers that criss-cross the city after filling up at old wells at Charni Road and elsewhere were the main culprits, even though at some junctions resourceful slum dwellers fill pots and pans with the same spilling water.

Former deputy police commissioner (traffic) Harish Baijal, who launched the anti-drunk-driving campaign, said, “It was the death of three persons in March 2007 by three drunk drivers that triggered the drive to clean Mumbai’s roads. The result it is showing now is due to the hard work of all the traffic department personnel who tirelessly carry out the exercise to curb the offence.” Advocate Armin Wandrewala, who bore the brunt of a motorist’s ire at a traffic signal last year, said the police could also upgrade its facility and have more cameras to spot violators.

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There were no alcohol-related traffic fatalities on state highways over the New Year’s weekend, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The only fatality in the state was the death of John Bernard, a Grant County deputy who was on patrol Sunday evening when his car crashed and rolled on a rural road near Ephrata.

Last year there were five alcohol-related fatalities in the state, said Freddy Williams, with the State Patrol.

Also last year, the patrol made 291 DUI arrests between 4 p.m. Thursday and midnight Sunday. This year there were 257 DUI arrests, Williams said.

He attributed the drop to drivers having designated drivers, taking taxis and not getting behind the wheel when they had been drinking.

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While the number of DUI arrests in 2009 significantly increased in Arizona from the previous year, Graham County bucked the trend and had fewer DUI arrests over the New Year’s holiday than last year.

The Eastern Arizona DUI Task Force conducted saturation patrols New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and reported a total of nine DUI arrests out of 131 stops, according to Thatcher Sgt. Scott Mulleneaux.

Last year, 15 arrests were made on 218 stops during three saturation patrols in December and early January. While the total number of arrests was higher in the 2008 deployments, the actual percentage of arrests to stops remained the same at about 7 percent for both years.

According to the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, Arizona’s 16 DUI task forces made more than 14,000 DUI arrests in 2009, including nearly 4,500 from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

That is an increase from the 2008 numbers of about 10,500 arrests, with about 2,700 from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

What has increased in Graham County for 2009 is the usage of designated drivers. This year, officers noted 20 designated drivers out of the 131 stops with 16 designated drivers utilized out of 59 stops New Year’s Eve.

“The increased use of designated drivers was very impressive,” Mulleneaux said. “Our goal is to get zero DUIs and have all designated drivers (for those who have been drinking alcohol).”

He said it is apparent that message has reached a significant portion of Graham County’s residents, and he is grateful they have taken the advice to heart.

This year, officers from the Safford, Thatcher, Pima and Clifton police departments joined officers from the Department of Public Safety to conduct the patrols. The task force is funded from a grant from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

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