Holiday Drunk Driving Crackdown Nets 93 Arrests Statewide

Results are in from the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over holiday crackdown on drunk drivers, locally sponsored by The Durham Middlefield Local Wellness Coalition and The Connecticut State Police.

During the holiday season, reducing the deadly dangers from drunk drivers was a top priority as the Connecticut State Police were out in force to arrest those who put themselves and others on the road at risk, across our state.

During the Thanksgiving Holiday and Christmas Holiday the Connecticut State Police stopped and arrested 93 drunk drivers who had blood alcohol concentrations over the legal limit of .08 grams per deciliter.

“We warned partygoers not to drink and drive, and we backed it up with aggressive enforcement,” said Sergeant Salvatore Calvo of the Connecticut State Police “These offenders needed to realize their actions have serious and potentially fatal consequences, and hopefully, now that they have been arrested, they will not put themselves and others at risk by driving drunk again."

Drunk driving is deadly dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 31 percent (9,878) of all traffic crash fatalities in 2011 occurred in drunk- driving-related crashes.

“People can get too wrapped up in the excitement of the holidays and make some seriously bad decisions,” said Sergeant Calvo “The bottom line is if you have been celebrating the holidays with alcohol, you don’t belong behind the wheel. Never drink and drive.”

The holiday season is a particularly deadly time due to the increased number of drunk drivers on the roads. Nationally 760 people lost their lives as a result of drunk-driving-related crashes in December 2011. 

— Submitted by the Durham Middlefield Youth and Family Services office.