Minnesota police officers say drunk driving arrests have continued to decline over the years, but they’re starting to see an uptick in distracted driving violations.
Minnesota saw a huge decrease in drunk driving arrests in 2014. There were 21 percent fewer DUI arrests in 2014 compared to 2013, but Rochester Police Lt. John Sherwin said that doesn’t mean the roads are safer than they were in the past.
“Honestly, we don’t have the manpower to target DUI like we could. It’s as simple as that,” Sherwin said. “On Friday and Saturday nights, when there are a lot of intoxicated people on the road, that’s when all of the other calls are going on in the city. It’s very hard for us to target DUI enforcement unless we have officers who are dedicated to that.”
Despite Lt. Sherwin’s concerns, it seems likely that Minnesota drivers are making better decisions behind the wheel. Between public awareness, announced patrols and a general social distain for drunk driving, it’s no surprise that DUI arrests have tapered off over the years. Police are hoping that trend continues, especially with a slew of holidays on the horizon. DUI arrests tend to spike during the summer holiday stretch – which extends from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The Seasonal Effect
As we mentioned above, DUIs and other traffic stops tend to increase in the summer months. Police suggest that drivers are more careful when snow and ice are on the roads, but they tend to drive more recklessly during the warm summer months.
“During the summer, when the roads are clean and dry, good to go, the speeds increase,” said Olmsted County Sheriff’s Captain Scott Behrns. “The severity of the crashes in (Olmsted County) during the warm weather months increase. There might not necessarily be an increase in the numbers, but the severity will increase.”
In addition to higher speeds, police say a growing amount of drivers are preforming other tasks behind the wheel. A recent crackdown revealed some interesting distracted driving traits, like eating an ice cream cone, playing a video game or putting on makeup. Officers say they plan to combat the increasing speeds and distracted driving tendencies with a number of traffic patrols. A seat belt campaign began on Monday, and DUI patrols will take place over the long holiday weekends. Another distracted driving crackdown is likely sometime in the near future.
“Texting while driving is definitely a new factor in our goal of zero highway deaths,” said Lt. Scott Davis. “We’re going to on the look for people using their phones.”
Related source: Post-Bulletin
