CHP Reports Increase In Holiday DUI Arrests in San Francisco

POSTED: 9:54 pm PST January 2, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bay Area law enforcement agencies arrested more people for drunken driving during a holiday enforcement period this year than in the past two years, according to California Highway Patrol numbers.

Between Dec. 15 and Jan. 1, 2007, officers representing 125 Bay Area law enforcement agencies arrested 3,037 people for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the CHP.

The unofficial numbers represent an almost 15 percent increase in arrests over 2004 and a 30 percent increase in arrests over 2005.

The CHP reports that the increase "more than likely saved a number of lives." There were, however, seven deaths in the Bay Area associated with drunken driving during the holiday period. In 2004, there were 10 deaths while in 2005, there were only two.

In Santa Clara County there were four fatalities to go along with 716 arrests. In Morgan Hill alone, there were 67 arrests in the 18-day period. San Jose police made 173 arrests for drunken driving, according to the report.

In Solano County, where there was at least one drunken driving death, authorities arrested 104 people. In Sonoma County, arrests were down by 25 percent with 137 total arrests. One man died as a result of drunken driving, according to the CHP.

Monterey County officials arrested 203 people for driving under the influence and there were no reports of deaths.

Numbers for other Bay Area counties involved in the anti-drunken driving effort, called the AVOID campaign, have yet to come in, but San Francisco accounted for two of the deaths related to drunken driving.

Article courtesy of http://www.nbc11.com/

California Drunk Driving Defense
ROBERT TAYAC, Attorney at Law
600 Montgomery Street, Ste. 210
San Francisco, California 94111
Phone: 415-552-6000
Toll free: 800-901-1888
Santa Clara County: 408-985-8700
Sonoma County: 707-576-9900
E-mail Us Here