Minnesota officials are stepping up DWI enforcement to combat ‘incredible and unacceptable’ trend

Law enforcement from 300 agencies across Minnesota will be out in full force looking for impaired drivers as part of a campaign to encourage motorists to drive sober and keep the roads safe at a time when traffic fatalities are on the rise. The effort kicks off Wednesday and will continue on weekends through New Year’s Eve.

Last year, nearly 27,000 motorists in Minnesota were arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired by alcohol or other substances, and the numbers are not abating.

“That is an incredible and unacceptable number,” said Mike Hanson, director of the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety. “That should cause every one of us to have a little bit of pause and have a little bit of fear as we begin to travel this holiday season. There is no excuse for getting behind the wheel if you are impaired.”

As of Tuesday, 418 people have died in traffic crashes in Minnesota, up 64 from the same date last year. That means more empty chairs at the Thanksgiving table and holiday gatherings yet to come.

Over the past five years, law enforcement has tagged more than 127,400 motorists for driving while impaired and delivered death notifications to 664 families who lost a loved one in a crash in which alcohol was a factor, according to the Department of Public Safety.

The state has already seen more than 24,000 DWI arrests this year, DPS data shows. Equally alarming, Hanson said, is that the average blood-alcohol concentration of those stopped was about 0.15%, nearly twice the legal limit for driving.

And it’s not just alcohol. Drugged driving arrests are up 92% over the past five years, Hanson said.

Col. Christina Bogojevic, head of the State Patrol, still recalls a horrific alcohol-related crash she responded to 15 years ago in which five people died, including a newborn and 2-year-old.

“These types of memories don’t go away,” she said during a campaign kickoff event at St. Paul Fire Station No. 1 on W. 7th Street. She asked motorists to give loved ones and those they share the road with the gift of sober driving this holiday season.

Firefighters, tow truck drivers and other first responders who help at crash scenes joined law enforcement to draw attention to the problem of impaired driving and encourage those who have had too much to use a designated driver, take a rideshare or taxi or simply stay off the roads.

Jamie Smith, deputy chief of the St. Paul Fire Department, recalled a 2018 incident in which a speeding drunken driver exited an alley and crashed into another vehicle. The vehicle that was hit was severed in half and part of the car struck a garage, which collapsed on top of it. First responders had to stabilize the garage before cutting the victim out of the mangled car.

Crashes involving impaired drivers are not always that violent, but they happen “far too often,” he said.

Police, sheriff’s office deputies and state troopers will set up “high visibility” saturation patrols in areas where data indicates impaired driving is common, Hanson said, and will fan out onto city and county roads, too.