ST. PAUL -- More than 300 Minnesota law enforcement agencies will be working overtime this holiday season to try to prevent drunken driving.
The percentage of drunk-driving related deaths compared with total traffic fatalities is significantly higher for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday periods than other major holidays during at least the past four years, said the Minnesota Department of Public Safety which is coordinating the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” effort.
The percentage of traffice deaths caused by drunken driving during the holiday periods are Thanksgiving 53.8 percent, Christmas, 46.2 percent, Fourth of July, 40 percent, Memorial Day, 27.3 percent, Labor Day, 16.7 percent and New Year’s Day, 12.5 percent.
The extra DWI enforcement campaign starts Wednesday and runs on weekends through Jan. 2.
The statewide enforcement involves police departments, sheriff’s offices and the State Patrol. Funding is being provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
