Law enforcement across Minnesota handed out more than 2,200 drunken driving citations during an enforcement campaign from Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve.
That was about 200 more drivers ticketed than during a similar enforcement effort in the last six weeks of 2021.
"When a person is impaired, smart decisions aren't going to happen. Law enforcement saw that repeatedly during the holiday DWI campaign," said Mike Hanson, director of the state Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety. "One bad decision can put so many people at risk. Thankfully, law enforcement stopped those decisions from further endangering lives."
Among the incidents, police in Roseau found a 58-year-old man passed out in the driver's seat of a vehicle stuck in a snowbank. His foot was on the accelerator with the engine revving, and he had open bottles in the vehicle.
In Faribault, police stopped a 37-year-old man for speeding and driving with a revoked license. He had five children younger than age 15 in the car at the time.
Both drivers had a blood-alcohol content of 0.15% or higher, Hanson said. The legal limit for driving in Minnesota is 0.08%.
During the campaign, the State Patrol arrested 578 drivers, the most among the 300 participating agencies. St. Paul police cited 57, followed by the Wright County Sheriff's Office, 38; the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, 37; the Stearns County Sheriff's Office, 35; and the Washington County Sheriff's Office, 34, according to the Office of Traffic Safety.
While alcohol accounted for a majority of the DWI arrests, Hanson said law enforcement has seen an increase in drivers under the influence of drugs, including THC — the ingredient in cannabis that gets people high. A 2022 state law allows businesses to sell THC-infused edibles and beverages.
