Personal Injury Lawyers > Personal Injury Blog > Drunk Driving Accidents > Sixteen People Killed in Auto Accidents in California over Christmas Holiday

Personal Injury Blog

Sixteen People Killed in Auto Accidents in California over Christmas Holiday

The hoilday seasons usually show a dramatic spike in the number of intoxicated motorists on the road which leads to an increased number of alcohol related car crashes. This year’s Christmas season followed the same trend, it seems. There were more than 1,400 people arrested for driving under the influence across California during the holiday weekend.

The crackdown, which began on the 18th of December ran through the 26^th, and ended with 1,424 motorists arrested for drunk driving. Those statistics come from the Avoid program, which has law enforcement agencies from more than 40 California counties participating. Those numbers are higher than the arrest figures during the same period last year, when there were 1,416 people arrested for DUI.

The California Highway Patrol itself arrested more than 200 people for driving under the influence in Los Angeles County. In Orange County, 22 people were arrested for DUI, while in San Diego County, the toll was 38 DUI arrests. The crackdown is expected to continue though this weekend, while millions of Californians bring in the New Year. The New Year holiday tends to be the most alcohol-heavy holiday of the year, with copious amount of alcohol expected to flow over the weekend. The result will be hundreds of intoxicated motorists too drunk to drive, and too irresponsible to take a cab ride home. The potential for accidents is vast, and California Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies are sparing no efforts to crackdown on intoxicated motorists.

Even with those large numbers of arrests over this Christmas, there were 16 deaths occurring in traffic accidents over the holiday. That is the same number of deaths that occurred during Christmas season in 2008

Stronger action against drunk drivers and stricter enforcement of drunk driving laws have meant a sharp decline in the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes over the past few years. Across the country, states like California that have taken a hard stand against intoxicated motorists through regular enforcement, periodic crackdowns and stronger punishment for drunk drivers have been able to bring down annual DUI fatality rates.  In California, there has been a sharp focus on preventing these fatalities. Enforcement has been accompanied by new laws that make it harder for repeat offenders to drive after a DUI arrest. A recent law set up a pilot program in 4 California counties including Los Angeles, under which persons convicted of driving under the influence will have an ignition interlock device installed in their cars. The device is designed to measure the amount of alcohol on a person’s breath and shut down the ignition, preventing the vehicle from starting if the driver s found to be intoxicated.

This is currently a pilot program, and if successful in bringing down drunk driving accidents further, as California drunk driving accident lawyers hope it will. They expect it to be introduced in another counties after the pilot program has proved itself. The program has been applauded by anti drunk driving groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving as well as California car accident attorneys.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of motor vehicle accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

---