The Valley’s Holiday DUI Task Force concluded on New Year’s Day 2024 for this Season
The winter holidays are a time with heavier-than-normal traffic accidents related to alcohol. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, December deaths resulting from drunk driving are the highest they have been in the last fifteen years. However, New Year’s Day remains an especially dangerous time to drive, with people celebrating New Year’s Eve with a round of drinks and then getting behind the wheel to drive home.
As reported by Kye Graves of AZCentral, the Phoenix-area concluded its 2023 Holiday DUI Task Force on New Year’s Day. The task force has operated each weekend beginning on November 24th, 2023, with the New Year’s weekend task force in particular aimed to prevent alcohol-related accidents.
According to officials from the Scottsdale Police Department, “The goal of the officers assigned to the Task Force is to contact those drivers who have made the disastrous decision to drive impaired and remove them from the roadway before they hurt others or themselves.”
This year’s task force included police agencies from Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, and Salt River, along with the Arizona Department of Transportation, the NHTSA, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and Arizona DPS.
Drivers who drink are always encouraged to plan alternate transportation or designate a driver. During the holidays, drivers should seek out additional convenient methods of transportation, such as the Valley Metro lightrail, which offered free rides on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day this season.
Arizona takes DUIs particularly seriously. In addition to regular DUI charges, which are class 1 misdemeanors, offenders can also be charged with extreme or super extreme DUIs, which are class 1 misdemeanors with more severe additional penalties, or aggravated DUIs, which are felonies.
This holiday season, Rideout Law Group has seen up uptick in alcohol-related traffic offenses as police departments crack down on these offenses. If you have been charged with a DUI, or any other related offense, call our offices today to schedule a consultation.
RIDEOUT LAW GROUP
With offices in Lake Havasu City and Scottsdale, our firm serves the entire state of Arizona, with a particular focus on criminal defense, family law, and juvenile cases.
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- charges that are reduced or dropped.
- top experts reviewing your case.
- aggressive negotiations with the prosecution for plea bargains.
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At Rideout Law Group, our attorneys are able to expertly examine the evidence in your case to provide a strong strategy for argument that leads to an outcome that is most favorable to you. We have experience in all types of criminal cases for both adults and juveniles, with positive outcomes both in plea negotiations as well as jury trial settings.
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