Fewer Holiday DUI Arrests in Solano County

By Bay City News Service

Drunken driving arrests appear to have gone down in many Bay Area jurisdictions over the winter holiday period, authorities said.

In Santa Clara County, the Avoid the 13 anti-DUI campaign netted 432 arrests, down from 491 during the same period in 2011. 

The enforcement period was from Dec. 14 to Jan. 1. 

Alameda County's Avoid the 21 taskforce reported 401 DUI arrests compared to 485 in 2011 during the same Dec. 14 through Dec. 31 period last year.

Solano County's Avoid the 11 dropped to 38 DUI arrests from 48 in 2011 during the Dec. 14 through Jan. 1 period. 

However this year there was one DUI-related fatal crash compared to zero in 2011.

San Mateo County's Avoid the 23 saw a slight drop in DUI arrests with 165 compares to 168 from 2011. The enforcement period ran from Dec. 14 through Dec. 31.

In Marin, the Avoid the 13 winter holiday crackdown netted five DUI arrests. 

Monterey County's Avoid the 20, in conjunction with San Benito County, resulted in 112 DUI arrests compared to 115 in 2011. There were no fatalities this year, Avoid the 20 spokeswomen Jan Ford said.

DUI arrests in Sonoma County during the holiday period were down from last year's numbers, according to the Avoid the 13 DUI Task Force.

There were 144 DUI arrests between midnight Dec. 14 and midnight Jan. 1, compared to 163 DUI arrests during the same 19-day holiday period last year, Petaluma police Sgt. Ken Savano said.

"Fortunately there were no deaths attributed to a drunk driver in our area. Last year there was one alcohol-related death during the year-end campaign," Savano said. 

Five alcohol-related collisions injured six people this year in Sonoma County. Last year six such collisions injured six people, Savano said. 

Thirteen law enforcement agencies in the county conducted the winter holiday DUI mobilization campaign that includes sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and routine patrols, Savano said.

The next Avoid the 13 campaigns will be on Super Bowl Sunday and St. Patrick's Day, Savano said.

The California Highway Patrol reported that it made the same number of DUI arrests in the Bay Area over the holiday compared to the same period last year, while fatal collisions were down.

From 6 p.m. last Thursday to 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, the CHP reported one fatal collision in the Bay Area and 208 DUI arrests. Last year, the CHP saw three fatal crashes and 208 DUI arrests during the same period, according to CHP officials.

Statewide, 1,273 drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI over the past four days, compared to 1,270 arrests statewide during the same enforcement period last year.

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