Mixed results for Memorial Day DUIs

Depending on the jurisdiction, Memorial Day drunk-driving arrests took a hop or a dip this year – with Sonoma in the second category, having registered only one such bust during the holiday weekend.
“She was driving around town with the parking lights on, almost bouncing into curbs on West Napa Street,” Sgt. Dave Thompson said Friday, adding that the woman was arrested around 11:45 p.m. on May 24 and released to her sister.
Thompson said sheriff’s deputies logged 31 arrests between 12 a.m. May 23 and 11:59 p.m. May 26. During the same period, the Bay Area’s 125 law enforcement agencies netted 555 DUIs up from 529 last year. Alcohol related deaths dipped from five last year to one this year.
The California Highway Patrol, on the other hand, is reporting an overall statewide drop in DUI arrests, with 1,450 down from last year’s 1,614. The trend was reversed within the Bay Area, though, with 239 drinking drivers, up from last years total of 198.
CHP is also reporting three fatalities in the Bay Area, down from five reported last year during the same period.