Police hit roads to take on drunk drivers over holidays

The holidays are meant for spending time with your family and enjoying yourself. But, too often, people celebrate a little bit too much over the holiday weekend and police are forced to get involved.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The holidays are meant for spending time with your family and enjoying yourself. But, too often, people celebrate a little bit too much over the holiday weekend and police are forced to get involved.

Numbers show a yearly uptick in drunk driving arrest numbers over the holiday season in November and December. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest drinking nights of the year. But throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, police are on high alert for drivers who are on the roads and under the influence.

Police agencies are working together to make sure if drinking is part of your celebration, you find a safe, sober way home. And if you don’t, you could find yourself in trouble with the law.

The Minnesota State Patrol has been tweeting about their increased patrols that kicked off Wednesday night, focused on impaired drivers.

Hundreds of law enforcement agencies around the state are taking part, including the Minneapolis Police Department.

"We are out we will have additional cars out through the holidays; we have extra cars out this evening," explained Minneapolis police spokesperson John Elder.

Keeping those drunk drivers off the road can be a matter of life or death. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says drunk driving contributed to 28 deaths during the holiday season over the last five years, and 10 percent of all the DWI arrests over the past five years happened between the Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

"We all know what it’s like to have family and to have someone die, especially around this time at the holidays, unnecessarily, is extremely difficult," added Elder.

So instead of adding to a growing problem, law enforcement agencies say: Be part of the solution and plan a ride home.

"Back in the day, driving while intoxicated wasn’t viewed as such a horrible thing," Elder said. "Now the onion’s been peeled back and people really see what it is, it is a public health hazard."