Labor Day weekend DUI arrests down from last year

September 04, 2012

The state office of highway safety has released updated numbers on how many people were stopped for DUI over the Labor Day weekend. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Nick Blumberg reports.

Between last Wednesday and late Tuesday morning, 564 people were arrested for DUI in Arizona. That’s down from last year’s arrest total of 617. And overall, law enforcement made nearly 3,000 fewer traffic stops than the 2011 Labor Day weekend. Alberto Gutier is Director of the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

“We had about 13 task forces working throughout the state, from Pima County to Coconino County, from the White Mountains to Yuma, and small communities around the state," Gutier said. "Overall, probably close to 70 agencies worked together to make sure that people were safe this weekend.”

Although the number of DUIs was down, Gutier is concerned that the average Blood Alcohol Content was 0.155 this year, an increase over last year’s average of 0.149. Gutier is also worried about increasing seat belt usage and decreasing distracted driving. After several years of declining fatalities, more people died on Arizona’s roads in 2011 than did in 2010.