Thanksgiving weekend busy for drunk driving

Court records indicate that the Thanksgiving holiday is a time of increased drunk driving in New Mexico. From Wednesday to Sunday around Thanksgiving 2018, law enforcement arrested 53 people for drinking and driving in Bernalillo County. During the same four-day period in 2017, 49 arrests were made. One 26-year-old man was allegedly seen by police going 115 mph on I-40, racing another car, when he was stopped and arrested for DWI.

Others who were arrested for alleged DWI during the Thanksgiving holiday included a driver who ran the light at Academy and San Mateo and a driver who crashed into a median in a parking lot. A woman who was pulled over for texting and driving in Tijeras was also arrested for DWI. According to the director of the DWI Resource Center, many drunk drivers assume they can drive safely from one place to another, but being drunk sometimes makes that assumption deadly.

She went on to say that the Thanksgiving holiday is traditionally among the busiest for DWI arrests. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department and the Albuquerque Police made a combined 44 arrests during Thanksgiving weekend 2018; the New Mexico State Police arrested 59 people. There were no motor vehicle accident deaths reported over Thanksgiving weekend in 2018.

People who are injured in car accidents with impaired drivers or texting drivers may want to speak with a lawyer. Injured parties might be entitled to recover for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages or other damages. A lawyer with experience in personal injury law may be able to help by conducting depositions or putting together a theory and case for trial. A lawyer might attempt to negotiate settlement with at-fault parties or file a complaint for damages in civil court.

Source: KOAT7, “Thanksgiving DWI arrests slightly up from last year,” T.J. Wilham, 11/27/2018