Snow patrol: TCPD said snowfall lowered DWI arrests, less traffic on roadways

During the holiday season, The Colony Police Department usually sees an increase of calls. But this year as the snow flurries fell, so did the numbers of drivers on the road.

Darren Brockway, TCPD public information officer, said the holiday season usually brings more opportunities to consume alcohol - and thus more opportunities to drink and drive.

"More cars on the roadways equals more chances of being in an accident," he said. "More drivers consuming alcohol increases the chance of accident and/or decreases driver's ability to avoid an accident. It is because of the amount of traffic on the roadways, and more probability per driver to have [alcohol in their systems] that law enforcement agencies step up the DWI enforcements."

This year, however, falls into the exception category and misses the average number of five because of the icy roads, decreasing the amount of drivers on the road, Brockway said.

"I think you will see low ratings on DWI arrests throughout the Metroplex this year," he said. "Until the legalities of check points are better defined, typically our agency does not participate in check points. But our agency does do a pretty good job enforcing DWIs."

This year, The Colony saw a total of 43 arrests between Christmas and New Years. Eight of those arrests occurred after an officer witnessed the crime. Of those eight, only three were DWIs.

"This is low for the time of year," Brockway said. "The white Christmas means less people on the roadways, which allows the math to work in favor of public safety."

During the same time period of 2011-12, 43 arrests were made and 15 of those offenses took place in front of officers. Seven of those 15 were for DWIs, which Brockway said was about average.

Other cities in the area are seeing similar results, said Larry Kish, public information officer for the Denton County Sheriff's office. Between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, the Denton County Jail accepted 34 DWI bookings.

The Denton County Sheriff's Office handled one DWI while the Department of Public Safety saw 18. Hickory Creek, Lake Dallas, Argyle and Sanger handled two DWI arrests; Pilot Point, Roanoke, North Lake and Trophy Club saw one. The University of North Texas brought in three DWI arrests during the same time period.

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