Oklahoma Highway Patrol says New Year’s Eve was quieter than usual

DURANT, Okla. (KXII) – According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of overnight fatal crashes on New Year’s Eve spikes over 130% compared to a normal day.

From 2013 to 2020, Oklahoma saw nearly 20 times more overnight fatal crashes including alcohol on New Year’s Eve compared to the same night over the previous four weeks.

Captain Scott Hampton of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol says that they did see a few accidents last night.

“We had multiple collisions over the Ardmore and Durant area,” Hampton said. “Several of those resulted in DUI collisions and only one of those early this morning resulted in a fatality.”

He said he was pleasantly surprised at the numbers compared to previous years.

“Our numbers last night for this area showed a decrease in our DUI arrests,” Hampton said. “Overall, it was a quieter night than what we’ve experienced in the past.”

OHP spent the last few nights setting up DUI checkpoints and increasing patrols to help crack down on impaired driving.

“We try and discourage impaired driving through DUI education and enforcement and we hope that that pays off,” Hampton said.

They say that they are going to continue working hard to prevent impaired driving in 2024.

“Our impaired driving liaisons are very active in bringing on law enforcement partners to participate in impaired driving campaigns and we will be doing a lot of emphasis over the next year on occupant protection and impaired driving,” Hampton said.

A DUI could set you back on average $10,000, but the safety risk is much more severe.

On average, one person is killed about every 39 minutes in a drunk driving crash.

For more resources on impaired driving, click here.

Copyright 2024 KXII. All rights reserved.