Nearly 50 people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs during a New Year's weekend anti-DUI crackdown in the Riverside County, authorities said Wednesday.
The California Highway Patrol's "maximum enforcement period," which ran from Friday night to Tuesday night, netted 47 DUI arrests on highways and county roads patrolled by officers from the Riverside CHP office.
During the previous New Year's MEP, 28 people were arrested. That campaign, however, was a day shorter.
Between Friday and Tuesday, there were 27 collisions locally, 13 of them involving injuries, according to Officer Steve Carapia. He said 447 citations were issued for a variety of infractions.
The MEP coincided with the Riverside County Avoid the 30 task force's end-of-year holiday crackdown, which began Dec. 14 and wrapped up last night.
By Thursday, the Avoid campaign had racked up 466 DUI-related arrests, according to Riverside police Sgt. Skip Showlater, the Avoid coordinator.
Final figures were expected out Wednesday night or Thursday.
-City News Service
