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Holiday DUI Arrests Down 44 Percent From Last Year

Four traffic deaths were reported over the first 60 hours of the
holiday period in Los Angeles County and arrests for drunk driving
made by CHP officers were down about 44 percent from last year’s
total.

Emelio Ramirez, 25, of Oxnard, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run
driver Christmas Eve while walking in the right-most lane of the San
Diego (405) Freeway just south of the Marina (90) Freeway.

Sheryl Thacker, 38, and Carmela Rodriguez, 64, both of San Pedro, died
Christmas Day when a van they were in crashed and rolled over on the
Harbor (110) Freeway near Pacific Coast Highway.

Information on the fourth traffic fatality, which was not handled by
the CHP, was not immediately available.

Only one traffic fatality was reported during the similar time period in 2008.

Statewide, there were 16 traffic deaths this year as compared with 18 in 2007.

Local CHP officers made 158 DUI arrests between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6
a.m. Saturday, compared to 282 arrests in the similar period last
year, CHP
Officer Anthony Martin said.

Drunk driving arrests are down by more than a third across the state
– from 1,303 at this point in 2007 to 824 this year, Martin said.

Arrests for drunk driving by California Highway Patrol officers in
Orange County over the first sixty hours of the holiday period were
down about 20 percent from last year’s total, it was reported
Saturday.

Local CHP officers made 42 DUI arrests between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6
a.m. Saturday, compared to 53 arrests in the similar period last year,
CHP Officer Rob Sanchez said.

Drunk driving arrests are down by more than a third across the state
– from 1,303 at this point in 2007 to 824 this year, Sanchez said.

A teenager died Saturday in the only reported traffic death in Orange
County during the period. The 19-year-old passenger, who was not yet
identified, was in a crash involving two allegedly drunk drivers, one
of whom was driving the wrong way on the Santa Ana (5) Freeway.

One fatality was also reported in Orange County during the similar
period in 2007.

Statewide 16 traffic deaths were reported as compared to 18 in 2007.

CHP-reported DUI statistics concern only the arrests made by CHP
officers, while the fatality totals cover all law enforcement
jurisdictions in California, as reports are filed with the state.

((c) 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Related articles:

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• Why celebrities are such bad drivers.