Last week we reported on how the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force stopped cars and made arrests during the Thanksgiving weekend as a precursor to the state's holiday DUI enforcement program. Over the weekend, law enforcement officers continued their crackdown and made more arrests.
According to a report by the Arizona Daily Star, more than 30 officers were deployed in Tucson and throughout Pima County from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday evening in order to provide additional enforcement of the state's DUI laws. Friday and Saturday evenings are notorious for drunk driving accidents, which lead to the additional levels of enforcement.
Over the two day period, officers arrested 18 drivers on suspicion of impaired driving after making 91 traffic stops. Two of the drivers arrested were under the legal drinking age (21) and three other drivers were found to have extreme BAC levels (over .15).
The traffic stops also lead to citations for seatbelt violations, child restraint violations, more than 140 traffic violations as well as nine underage drinking infractions that were not related to driving, but resulted in misdemeanor arrests.
Officers note that several cars that were stopped had designated drivers; a safety precaution that is commonly overlooked. Also there were no fatal accidents during the enforcement period, which will likely lead safety advocates to call for more drunk driving enforcement.
Aggressive enforcement will continue throughout the holiday season, and drivers should be aware of similar enforcement actions in the greater Phoenix metro area.
Source: AZStarnet.com, 18 arrested in Pima County DUI sweep, December 2, 2012