Some of our Philadelphia readers may have seen a previous post here which detailed the efforts that would be taken by state and local police departments to step up DUI enforcement during the holiday season. Any Philadelphia DUI attorney would probably have known about this increase in patrols and checkpoints, and advised both existing and potential clients that the last thing they would probably want to do during the holidays is search for a good drunk driving defense attorney. However, it appears that there will be plenty of Pennsylvania residents doing just that, as a recent report has indicated that arrests during a four-day period in the Philadelphia area resulted in twice the number of DUI arrests in 2012 as it did in 2011.

The four-day period ran from December 21 until Christmas Day, December 25. A special detail of the state police, which covered areas in three Philadelphia area counties, reported a total of 32 DUI arrests during that time period. They also reported 794 citations. These figures both represent increases from the 2011 data, at which time they reported 16 DUI arrests and 709 citations.

Fortunately, there were no fatal accidents reported during that same time period. There were, however, a total of 109 crashes, of which eight involved alcohol. Oddly enough, these figures are relatively similar to the figures reported from 2011.

Although the holidays are behind us, it is important to remember that society in general is taking a more hardline stance toward driving while intoxicated – not just in Philadelphia. There are a variety of ways to contest a DUI arrest – from an invalid sobriety test to a lack of probable cause for the traffic stop in the first place – but the best defense is to avoid an arrest entirely.

Source: PerkiomenValleyPatch, “State Police: Holiday DUI Arrests Doubled Since 2011,” Brittany Tressler, Dec. 28, 2012