29 Die in Traffic Accidents Over Holiday; Drunk Driver Arrests Up
During what traffic officials refer to as the “deadliest season of the year,” 29 people died on California roads as the New Year’s weekend drew to a close.
Though the number was down from 33 deaths during the same period last year, drunk driving arrests went up, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Mike Brey said.
From 6 p.m. Friday, when the holiday reporting period began, to 6 a.m. Monday, 2,156 people were arrested, compared with 1,725 last year, the Highway Patrol reported.
Authorities were hesitant to say if a new law that went into effect on New Year’s Day, lowering the blood alcohol content standard for legal drunkenness from .10 to .08, led to the increase in the number of people arrested.
“We may make more arrests but that is not the point,” Brey said. “It won’t be the number of arrests that will change attitudes about drinking and driving. That will come when the public understands the position law enforcement has taken--that you don’t have to be falling down drunk for your driving to be impaired. If you exhibit symptoms of intoxication, regardless of whether you are over the legal limit or not, you can still be arrested and booked for DUI.”
In Los Angeles, police said they arrested 188 drivers, 128 of them on New Year’s Eve. The total was about the same as last year, police said.
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