Holiday drunk driving increased in 2018; southern MN makes the lowlight reel

(St. Paul, MN) – Drunk drivers were out on the roads during the 2018 holiday season in numbers that exceeded the previous year, but law enforcement was ready for them.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says 2,757 drivers were arrested during the state’s holiday DWI extra enforcement campaign. That number is up from 2,656 DWI arrests during the same period in 2017. Officers also handed out 1,1901 seat belt violation citations.

Southern Minnesota made multiple appearances the state DPS drunken driving highlight list:

A woman who hit multiple guardrails and went into the ditch was arrested for DWI in Blue Earth County. Just four days later, the woman was arrested again for DWI – this time in Goodhue County on Christmas day.
In Mower County, DPS says eight of the nine DWI arrests stemmed from drug use.
In Olmsted County, 12 of the 43 DWI arrests were made during daytime hours.
And one of 15 of the DWI arrests in the state for a driver with a blood alcohol content of .30 or higher happened in Nicollet County, when the sheriff’s department detained a driver with a BAC of .37, over four times the legal limit.

Consequences for a DWI can include a loss of license for up to a year, thousands of dollars in fines, and possible jail time.

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Southern Minnesota