The Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety released its Memorial Day Weekend report.
The data tracks arrests, citations, and traffic stops from Friday, May 26 through Monday, May 29, 2023. The results are also contrasted with numbers from 2021 and 2022 Memorial Day Weekends respectively.
According to the report, officers and deputies across the state arrested 456 people for DUI’s. That figure is up from 449 in 2022, but down significantly from 589 DUI arrests in 2021.
Of the 456 DUI arrests made over the 2023 holiday weekend, 79 of them were classified as ‘extreme.’ An ‘extreme’ DUI is categorized as a driver with a BAC level over 0.15. 16 of those arrested for driving under the influence were also under the age of 21.
Switching gears, law enforcement also issued thousands of citations over the holiday weekend:
316 seat belt citations 55 child restraint citations 140 distracted driving citations 215 criminal speed citations
There was a notable drop in seat belt citations year-over-year, highway safety officials recorded 422 seat belt citations in 2022.
Overall, 2,243 officers and deputies across the state were on patrol during the holiday weekend enforcement period; conducting a total of 11,909 traffic stops. That’s a significant decrease from the 12,829 stops made in 2022, and 12,702 stops in 2021.