The Colorado State Patrol made 298 arrests for driving while intoxicated over Memorial Day weekend, authorities reported Tuesday.
The number of arrests is fewer than last year’s 303 over the long weekend, making State Patrol officials hopeful that Coloradans are changing their behavior due to increased crackdown efforts.
“Hopefully, the word’s getting out and they’re getting designated drivers or getting a cab,” said Ryan Sullivan, a State Patrol spokesman.
One goal of this year’s “Target Zero” campaign was to have zero fatal crashes. But seven people died in six crashes on Colorado’s roads over the weekend, Sullivan said. Five weren’t wearing seat belts.
Still, authorities said the weekend’s enforcement effort was a success since none of the deaths was on the agency’s primary target highways, Sullivan said.
“We don’t like to see any fatal crashes on our roadways,” he said, “but considering the large amounts of traffic and that no one died on our targeted highways, we do consider this a successful weekend.”
The State Patrol also said it issued 3,033 seat-belt citations and 6,651 speeding tickets, and pulled over 30,045 vehicles.
