CHP: Thanksgiving Weekend DUI Arrests Increase

Updated numbers as of Sunday at 11:42 p.m.

The California Highway Patrol has arrested more people for driving under the influence in the Bay Area this Thanksgiving holiday weekend than last year.

CHP officers have arrested 177 people for driving under the influence for the period between Wednesday evening and Saturday morning, compared with 137 during the same period in 2009.

All together, arrests increased in the Bay Area and statewide. CHP officers arrested 975 people for driving under the influence statewide, compared with 904 last year.

No fatalities have been reported by local CHP jurisdictions during the increased enforcement period this year. No deaths occurred last year on the highways during the same time period.

Across the state, DUI-related fatalities are down this year, with seven reported so far compared to 12 during the same period in 2009. 

There was no change in fatalities on CHP-patrolled roadways for the first 12 hours of the holiday weekend. In city-policed jurisdictions, three people were killed during that period last year.

The CHP plans to continue its increased enforcement period through midnight Sunday.

The numbers are provisional, as some cities have not reported their statistics. The Milpitas Police Department does not have statistics from the Thanksgiving holiday as of yet. But DUIs are not unfamiliar to Milpitas' city streets. From Oct. 15 to Nov. 15, officers arrested 18 individuals for driving under the influence.

Statewide, four people have died in DUI-related crashes this year. Two people died in traffic accidents on CHP-patrolled roadways, and two others were killed in city-policed jurisdictions, according to the CHP.

Bay City News Service