Increased DWI Enforcement on Minnesota Roads this Holiday Season

Law enforcement agencies throughout Minnesota will be cracking down on drunk drivers this holiday season. 

More than 300 law enforcement agencies will take part in the extra DWI enforcement. 

The extra DWI enforcement campaign starts November 25 and runs on weekends through January 2. 

Police departments, sheriff’s offices and the state patrol will work overtime with funding provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, the percentage of drunk-driving related deaths compared with total traffic fatalities is significantly higher during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday periods than any other major holiday. 

In the last five years, there were 479 drunk-driving related traffic deaths in Minnesota, with 88 people killed in 2014 alone. 

Nearly one out of every four deaths on roads in Minnesota are drunk-driving related. 

Last year, 22,258 drivers were arrested for DWI, that’s an average of 70 per day.