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Holiday was relatively safe, officials say
DUI-related arrests over 3-day period fall from '07
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More from County NewsThe Memorial Day weekend was relatively safe on Ventura County roads, authorities said Tuesday.
The California Highway Patrol counted 29 traffic collisions and 20 injuries on county roadways from Friday evening to midnight Monday. No traffic fatalities were reported.
"We've had some pretty horrific weekends. This didn't seem to be one of them," said Officer Brandon Mumme of the Moorpark CHP.
Only one crash reported by the CHP involved a major injury. George Flores, 20, of Santa Paula suffered serious injuries to his head and face when a vehicle driven by Angelica Flores, 28, of Santa Paula crashed and rolled over on the shoulder of eastbound Highway 126 east of Sycamore Road between Santa Paula and Fillmore, said Officer Shawna Davison of the Ventura CHP.
Flores was in stable condition Tuesday at Ventura County Medical Center, authorities said. Three other people in the car, including Angelica Flores, suffered minor injuries, and a 2-year-old passenger was not injured, authorities said.
George Flores was the only one in the car not wearing a seat belt.
A total of 102 people were arrested in Ventura County during the three-day weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to "Avoid the 14," a coalition of 14 county agencies cracking down on drunken driving.
Last year, 120 people were arrested locally on suspicion of DUI.
The drop in arrests came despite increased law enforcement presence in Oxnard and some other areas, Oxnard Senior Officer Humberto Jimenez said.
Jimenez, who coordinates the county's Avoid the 14 campaign, said most of the stops were not related to intoxication. "They were for traffic violations," he said.
Oxnard police arrested 13 people on suspicion of DUI over the long weekend and cited 143 for not wearing seat belts.
The number of DUI arrests in Thousand Oaks plummeted to five this Memorial Day weekend from 21 last year, sheriff's Capt. Ross Bonfiglio said.
In the Ventura CHP's territory, however, DUI arrests went up by eight this year, to 29.
Posted by sirdvsdsw on May 28, 2008 at 11:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The price of gas is to be credited for the decrease in DUI numbers.....who the hell can aford to drink and drive anymore!!!
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