Arizona DUI Task Force in Full Effect for St. Patrick's Day
Posted on Mar 17, 2009 1:23pm PDT
In the state of Arizona, Tri-City police departments will be conducting saturation patrols throughout St. Patrick's Day. Law enforcement departments have asked for extra personnel to be on duty during the holiday to crack down on instances of
driving under the influence (DUI).
In order to reduce instances of DUI, the state has even arranged for Dial-a-Ride Taxi Company to give free rides to residents from 7 PM until 12 AM. The taxi service will be free for those individuals who are leaving the Whiskey Row area.
Today, the Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety and the DUI Task Force released a statement. In the statement, the offices urged individuals to avoid drinking and driving tonight. The state wishes to keep the streets of Arizona safe for all people who are enjoying and attending St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The offices said that people who are drinking should act responsibly and designate a sober driver before they attend festivities.
According to statistics released by the National Traffic Safety Administration, 851 people have been killed during
DUI accidents on St. Patrick's Day over the course of the past 5 years. Statistics also reveal that 327 of the people that were killed during accidents were involved in crashes with drivers who had a BAC of 0.08% or higher.
The Arizona Task Force will be conducting sobriety checkpoints at various locations in the Tri-City area throughout today and will continue to remove drunk drivers from the roads throughout tonight. Last year, the Arizona Task Force arrested 66 DUI offenders on St. Patrick's Day and 241 throughout the holiday weekend.
If you have been charged with DUI in
Arizona, click here to find a
DUI defense attorney!