SAN ANTONIO – With New Year’s Eve approaching, law enforcement agencies are preparing to combat drunk driving. They’re concerned about a potential increase in alcohol-related crashes over 2020.
“I think that everybody being cooped up with COVID last year and so many parties getting canceled that right now everybody’s just aching to get out there and have some fun, understandably so,” said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar. “You know, this is San Antonio. We’re all about celebrating, but we’re also we should be about celebrating responsibly.”
Salazar said several units will be on patrol for drunk drivers during the New Year’s holiday, including special operations and gang units.
“We know they’ll be out there and we’re going to be out there, full force looking,” he said. “And of course, we’ll be working with our other fellow agencies in the area.”
Statewide in 2020, there were dozens of deaths from DUI-related crashes during the holiday season, with 11 death during New Year’s weekend alone.
In San Antonio, there were 172 DUI-related crashes, with four deaths and six injuries during the entire holiday season in 2020.
The San Antonio Police Department’s traffic unit will also work extra hours this week.
“We will be on the active roadways, highways, not anywhere specific because drinking happens all over the place,” said Cory Schuler, a public information officer for SAPD. “We’re going to do our very best to respond to those calls where drunk drivers may be reported. We’re going to make sure we get any impaired drivers off the roadway.”
Both agencies said they can’t combat the issue alone and that everyone needs to take responsibility.
“We are asking the public to think ahead. If you see a friend that’s impaired or may have been drinking that night, take his keys, call him a ride,” Schuler said. “It takes us as San Antonians, it takes us as citizens, it takes us as neighbors, as friends, as family to hold each other accountable.”
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