Did you know … as an Arizona motorist, there is a 30 percent chance that you will be involved in an alcohol-related collision in your lifetime. From December 4, 2009 through January 1, 2010, the East Valley DUI Task Force conducted a patrol operation in an attempt to keep impaired drivers off the roadways during the winter holidays.
“Drive Hammered…Get Nailed” was dedicated this year to Phoenix police Officer Shane Figueroa who was killed on duty when he was struck by a drunk driver on October 25, 2008. Figueroa, whose father and father-in-law are both law enforcement officers, was survived by his young wife and infant daughter.
The goal of the East Valley Holiday DUI Task Force is to educate the public about the dangers of driving while impaired by alcohol and/or drugs and to prevent deaths and injuries caused by impaired driving. Arizona is one of the toughest enforcement states in the nation when it comes to impaired driving enforcement.
Here is the task force 2009 statistical recap from the period December 29, 2009 through January 2, 2010:
- 464 misdemeanor DUI arrests
- 69 aggravated DUI arrests
- 215 extreme DUI arrests
- 46 DUI arrests with prior DUI
- .157 average BAC
- 15 DRE (drug recognition expert) evaluations
- 9 child restraint violations
- 20 seatbelt violations
- 16 underage DUIs
- 10 minors in possession
- 76 designated drivers contacted
A total of 1,341 citations were issued for reasons other than DUI. There were 609 DUI arrests with 215 of those arrests being made for extreme DUI.