LANSING, Jan. 16, 2003 – Despite an aggressive public information campaign and almost $240,000 in paid advertising throughout Michigan last month, more than 2,700 motorists failed to heed the warnings and were arrested for alcohol-related offenses during stepped up enforcement Dec. 20, 2002, through Jan. 5, 2003.

The positive news from the enforcement blitz is that preliminary reports from the Michigan State Police, Criminal Justice Information Center, indicate there were no fatal crashes in Michigan over the 2002 Christmas holiday and only one fatality during the 2002-2003 New Year’s holiday.

Nearly 500 Michigan law enforcement agencies took part in the two-week enforcement period which put extra emphasis on stopping and arresting drunk drivers during the holidays. The campaign was part of the ongoing You Drink & Drive. You Lose. initiative that includes weekly drunk driving saturation patrols by nearly 100 law enforcement agencies in the state.

With 337 law enforcement agencies submitting statistics to the Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP), results show 2,736 arrests were made for alcohol-related offenses. Participating police agencies logged 88,550 patrol hours, stopping 49,431 vehicles and making 809 felony arrests and 3,888 misdemeanor arrests. In addition, 12,393 speeding citations and 3,734 safety belt/child restraint citations were written during this mobilization.

"Motorists were warned that we were turning up the heat on drunk drivers," said Betty J. Mercer, OHSP division director. "We believe increased enforcement, coupled with the short holiday span and fewer people traveling, contributed to the significant drop in traffic fatalities."

Although both holiday periods were uncharacteristically short and fell in the middle of the week, during other two-day holiday periods the state has recorded anywhere from five to nine traffic fatalities over each of the two December holidays.

Prior to the Dec. 20 – Jan. 5 You Drink & Drive. You Lose. mobilization, law enforcement agencies ticketed more than 19,000 motorists for safety belt violations during a Click it or Ticket effort that ran Nov. 25-Dec. 8.

Click here  for a breakdown of participating law enforcement agency activity.

Read more press releases from the Michigan State Police.