Drunk-Driving Arrests Over Holidays Drop

Drunk-driving arrests in Orange County dipped this holiday season compared to recent years, which police attributed to dreary weather, midweek holidays and, they hope, education efforts preaching sober motoring.

The California Highway Patrol reported 28 drunk-driving arrests in Orange County on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, down from 45 arrests in 1992, the last time the holiday landed midweek. Other area agencies reported similar declines.

“We did have drizzle and rain, which kept some people off the road, but we hope fewer arrests also means that more people are getting the message,” CHP Officer Dave Dreher said.

There were, however, seven Orange County traffic fatalities during the holiday period from Dec. 24 through Thursday, including an Anaheim collision on Christmas Eve that killed three people.

Two of the seven deaths were the result of crashes believed to be alcohol-related, police said.

In Fullerton, a 23-year-old local woman was killed Sunday when a suspected drunk driver barreled through a red light at high speed and hit the Honda Accord driven by the victim’s husband.

Martha Cecilia Limas, a mother of two, was on the way home from church when a pickup truck that authorities say was driven by Walter Anthony Romine smashed into her car at Commonwealth and Highland avenues.

That tragedy was the exception during an otherwise quiet holiday on the city’s streets. Fullerton police made only two drunk-driving arrests on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

The other suspected drunk-driving-related death was early New Year’s Day in La Palma, and bore eerie similarities to the Fullerton crash. Sam Y. Lim was on his way home from church when a pickup truck running a red light broadsided the Honda driven by the victim’s mother. Lim died at the scene.

Increased patrols, sobriety checkpoints and other special police efforts were at work in local cities and on area freeways throughout the holidays.

“We don’t have all the numbers right now, but I was out there and I’d say there were far fewer [drunk drivers] than we used to see,” said Anaheim Sgt. John Haradon. “It was real quiet. I don’t know if weather was the reason, or the holiday being in the middle of the week, but we’d sure like to think the education is part of the reason.”

Huntington Beach police made 27 drunk-driving arrests from Dec. 20 through Thursday, about the same number of arrests made for the same period last year, Lt. Dan Johnson said. Only three arrests were made New Year’s Eve, Johnson said.

Statewide, the CHP made 599 drunk-driving arrests on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, down from 793 in 1992.

Fourteen people were killed in traffic accidents statewide during the 30-hour New Year’s travel period, Dreher said. The tally was just one more than the 1957 record low for a 30-hour New Year, and one fewer than the 1992 total.