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Troopers, deputies and police officers from 279 agencies statewide arrested 2,432 impaired drivers during the holiday DWI campaign from Nov. 22 through New Year’s Eve. The numbers compare with 2,228 DWI arrests during last year’s holiday campaign.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) coordinates the extra enforcement and awareness campaign with funding provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Examples of impaired driving arrests during the campaign

• A good Samaritan flagged down a Lakeville police officer who found a woman passed out behind the wheel at a busy intersection. The 51-year-old still had her foot on the brake. When the officer tried to wake her, her vehicle rolled into the squad. The driver had an initial blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.40.

• Chaska police arrested an intoxicated driver who crossed over the median and hit a vehicle head-on. Several people in the other vehicle were hurt.

• Redwood County deputies responded to a fatal crash that was alcohol-related. The unbuckled driver rolled the truck. Alcohol was found in the vehicle.

• A Chisago County Sheriff’s deputy pulled over a driver who had their 2-year-old son in the vehicle. The driver had a 0.18 BAC and was arrested for second-degree DWI.

• A Minnesota State Patrol trooper pulled over a vehicle for weaving across lane lines. The driver had a 0.225 BAC. The driver’s 10-year-old son was in the backseat.

• A Minnesota State Patrol trooper responded to a vehicle that sideswiped an ambulance in north Minneapolis and kept going. The driver had a 0.16 BAC.

• Inver Grove Heights police arrested a driver at 12:30 p.m. with a 0.30 BAC. He told officers he was on his way to the store.

• The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office arrested a driver for their seventh DWI. Another driver told Olmsted County deputies she was on her way to pick up her kids. She had a 0.27 BAC.

• Spring Lake Park police arrested a driver who was going to a restaurant on Christmas to eat pizza. He had a 0.35 BAC.

“If you’re out relaxing with friends over dinner and drinks, that’s fine, just make sure you have a sober ride home,” said OTS Director Mike Hanson. “If a person thinks they’re okay to drive after drinking, that can be a warning sign right there. Don’t risk it like we saw with too many drivers during this campaign.”

Impaired is impaired, regardless of the substance

There’s more than one way to be impaired behind the wheel. In addition to alcohol, cannabis can impair driving abilities. Reaction time is slower and understanding of distance and speed is different. Other substances, ranging from hemp-derived THC edibles to prescription medications and sleep aids, can also affect safe driving abilities.

During 2018-2022, 50 people died in drunk driving-related crashes, and there were more than 11,000 DWI incidents from the day before Thanksgiving through Dec. 31.

Drugged driving accounted for 8,069 DWI incidents from 2013-2017 compared with 15,810 from 2018-2022 — that’s a 96 percent increase.