Safe December Arrests Lead to Increase in DWI Arrests

Young adults age 21 to 29 had the most DWI arrests for the month of December according to statistics from the Fairfax County Police Department.

Last month, police arrested 358 drunk drivers last month, a 12 percent increase from their Safe December 2010 initiative. According to a news release, of those 358 drivers, 150 were between the ages of 21 and 29; 28 were between 15 and 20 years old; 82 were age 30-39; 55 were age 40-49; and 43 were 50 or older.

“Despite all our Safe December education and enforcement efforts, hundreds of drivers chose to drink and drive in Fairfax County, presenting an unacceptable safety risk to us all. Clearly, impaired driving remains a threat and our officers will continue to aggressively pursue violators,” said Capt. Susan Culin, Commander of the Fairfax County Traffic Division, in the news release.

At Tuesday night's Mason District Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC), Station Commander Capt. Gun Lee said there were a total of 701 DWI arrests in 2011 in Mason District alone.

The new release further states that there were 546 alcohol-related crashes through October 2011, out of a total of out of 8,214. In 2010, out of 10,471 crashes, 730 of them involved alcohol. There were 317 DWI arrests made in 2010.

For further statistics, view the full release here.