Minnesota DWIs Increase This Holiday Weekend
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As we enter the holiday season, Minnesota Traffic Safety encourages everyone to drive sober to prevent alcohol-related accidents and deaths.
Between midnight on Thanksgiving and 6 a.m. Friday morning, police reported 143 DWIs in Minnesota alone. As of 6:40 a.m. Friday, there were 191 DWIs this holiday weekend.
Overall, DWI stops have decreased every year since 2008, the MN Department of Public Safety says. Alcohol-related vehicle deaths have also become less-frequent, decreasing 44 percent between 2008 and 2017.
Still, they ask Minnesotans to commit to a sober ride by doing the following:
- Plan for a safe ride — Designate a sober driver, use a cab/public transportation or stay at the location of the celebration.
- Speak Up – Offer to be a designated driver or be available to pick up a loved one anytime, anywhere.
- Buckle up — The best defense against a drunk driver.
- Report drunk driving — Call 911 when witnessing impaired driving behavior. Be prepared to provide location, license plate number and observed dangerous behavior.
Alcohol's effects vary from person to person depending on age, weight and drink type, but having zero to two drinks is generally a safe rule of thumb, legal site Nolo says.
Minnesota's legal blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 percent on the roads. Nolo's chart gives an idea of how many drinks equate to impaired (in blue) and intoxicated driving (in red).
A standard drink is 12 fl oz of beer, five fl oz of wine, or one-and-a-half fl oz of spirits.
The Minnesota DMV says DWI citations and arrests apply to all vehicles, including snowmobiles, riding lawn mowers, trucks and boats.
Road patrol increases over Thanksgiving weekend and the winter holiday season, KVRR said.