Police on patrol for holiday DUI’s

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — New Year’s Eve is on Tuesday. If you plan to head out and celebrate, law enforcement will be patrolling the roads, as local law enforcement sees an uptick in traffic accidents around this time of year.

With the busier holiday roads, it adds extra danger and a common problem is people driving while intoxicated.

Sergeant Eric Barzee, with the Twin Falls police department, states at any given time they can get 80 to 100,000 people going in and out of Twin Falls. Officers are instructed to remain diligent in enforcing traffic laws, such as distracted driving.

“Inattention, not paying attention following too close, speeding, lane changes without signals, aggressive driving, texting and driving,” Sgt. Barzee said.

Impaired drivers are another major problem across the state and country.

“New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, things like that. Just typically very famous for having a lot of DUI drivers out there,” Sgt. Barzee said.

Sergeant Scott Bolen said last year, in District 4, there were 31 impaired driving crashes between Dec. 1 and Jan. 3.

“The leading cause of deaths in America right now during the holidays is drunk driving. And so, every, I think it’s, every 39 minutes there is someone killed in the US from drunk driving,” Sgt. Bolen with the Idaho State Police said.

With this uptick in drunk drivers, grants have been given from the Idaho Transportation Department to have extra officers on patrol during the New Year’s festivities.

“We are partnering with Twin Falls PD, Twin Falls County, all of our local agencies to set up extra patrols to go out and hunt down these impaired drivers,” Sgt. Bolen said.

Sgt. Barzee said those planning to drink should have a plan to get home, such as taking a taxi, using a ride-share app, or even having a designated driver.

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