Fewer drunken drivers were arrested during this holiday season’s The Heat Is On Campaign, but drunken driving fatal accidents were up during the same time compared to 2009.
The enforcement period runs from Nov. 23 through Jan. 3. During that time, law enforcement agencies across the state arrested 1,556 DUI drivers, according to the Colorado State Patrol. In 2009, 1,630 arrests were made in the same time period.
During the campaign, 14 of 41, or 34 percent, of vehicular fatalities involved a drunken driver.
In 2009, the Colorado State Patrol reported 11 of 41, or 27 percent, of traffic fatalities were related to DUI drivers.
The deadliest weekend in 2010 was during the Thanksgiving holiday, when five alcohol-related deaths out of six were reported.
During December, another nine people died in drunken driving accidents, but none were reported through the New Year’s Eve weekend.
