Public Safety

Deputies Increasing DUI Patrols on St. Patrick’s Day

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Don’t press your luck by drinking and driving on St. Patrick’s Day.

San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies will be keeping extra watch for drunk and drugged drivers starting at 6 p.m. Friday, March 17 through 3 a.m. Saturday. A sobriety checkpoint is also being set up Friday evening in Encinitas.

“Don’t drink and drive on St. Patrick’s Day,” said Sheriff Bill Gore. “If you get caught, you will go to jail. Remember, buzzed driving is drunk driving.”

People who decide to drink and drive make St. Patrick’s Day a dangerous holiday. Sheriff’s deputies arrested six people on the day last year on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Deputies arrested 1,365 people on suspicion of DUI for all of 2016.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that more than 10,000 people are killed every year by impaired driving in the United States. All of those deaths are preventable.