DUIs down, but BAC goes up, police say

HEIDI ROWLEY
Tucson Citizen

For the second year in a row, DUI arrests were down over the Cinco de Mayo weekend, but the blood-alcohol content in youths increased, police said.

There were 82 arrests this year by the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force compared to 103 last year. A total of 144 drivers were arrested the year before.

The majority of this year's arrests were for misdemeanors. Only four drivers were charged with felony DUI, which includes an additional infraction.

The average blood-alcohol content for drivers under 21 this year was 0.17 percent, up from 0.119 percent last year.

Police said the blood-alcohol level for adults also went up, from 0.14 percent last year to 0.165 percent this year. The level at which drivers are presumed to be impaired in Arizona is 0.08 percent.

There were no fatal DUI collisions and three nonfatal alcohol-related collisions over the weekend.

The Southern Arizona DUI Task Force stopped a total of 1,233 vehicles over the weekend.