The Department of Public Safety says that 13 counties are responsible for more than half of the deaths and serious injuries caused by motorists driving while intoxicated in Minnesota. In response the agency plans additional MN DWI patrols in those areas.

During a three year period ending in 2008, the thirteen counties tallied 267 DWI related deaths and 605 injuries. Over the past five years the DPS says that more than 13,000 arrests for Minnesota drunk driving have been made in the same counties.

The counties, in alphabetical order are: Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Olmsted, Otter Tail, Ramsey, Rice, St. Louis, Scott, Sherburne, Steams, Washington and Wright. Nine of the counties are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.

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An Amish man was charged with driving under the influence in Pennsylvania after being found passed out with the reins to his buggy in his hands. Around 9:00 pm, police were alerted to the slow moving horse and buggy traveling at a walking pace in the middle of the road. Elmer Stoltzfoos Fisher was found passed out in his

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that national DUI fatality rates dropped by 7% from 2007 to 2008 (the last complete year of data). LaHood cited aggressive drunk driving crackdowns by law enforcement groups for the drop. Safety research organizations also say the publicity surrounding drunk driving has also deterred many from drinking to excess and operating a motorized vehicle.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the drop continues a decade long trend. Since national organizations actively began addressing the issue of driving under the influence, the number of DUI related deaths is down 44%, from 21,113 in 1982 to 11,773 in 2008.

The largest decline in alcohol related traffic fatalities occurred in Vermont, which say a 45% drop. Other big drops were recorded in Wisconsin and Maine (-32%), Nebraska (-28%), Connecticut and Minnesota (-23%), South Dakota (-22%) and Arizona (-20%). In the larger populated states, California DUI deaths were down 9% from 1,132 to 1.029 and Texas DWI fatalities were down 2% from 1,333 to 1,269.

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An 18-year old woman told Athens-Clarke County police that a driving instructor had asked her for sex in exchange for a certification of completion of a GA DUI driving program.

The unnamed female said that she briefly left the A-1 DUI class around 1:00 pm last Saturday. When she returned she found the class had been dismissed for lunch. The class instructor offered to take her to a KFC restaurant, and after lunch he passed the school, parked in an apartment complex and allegedly asked for sex. The woman refused and demanded to be returned to the school.

The Georgia DUI instructor initially denied soliciting the student but, after investigating police presented a blank tape claiming it was a recording of the incident, he confessed.

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A police chief in the northern part of the state has been charged with driving under the influence in Alabama. Tony Logan was arrested at his home in Florence on Saturday afternoon. Police responded to a call from a witness reporting a vehicle striking a mail box and causing other damage. The police report indicates that the arresting officer determined that Logan was drunk, and filed charges of AL DUI.

Logan is the Chief of the Tuscambia Police Department. A defense attorney representing Logan hoped that people would understand what happened, and was seeking favorable disposition of the DUI.

Logan is on leave of duty. He has been the Tuscambia Police Chief since July 2008.

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NYPD Detective James O’Connell was arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated in Queens. He was off-duty at the time of his early Friday arrest.

O’Connell is the third NYPD officer to be charged with drunk driving in the New York City area since September. Officer Kevin Spellman pleaded guilty to fatally hitting a woman while driving impaired in the Bronx. Officer Andrew Kelly was also involved with a fatal traffic accident while suspected of driving drunk. He has entered a not guilty plea. Both officers were suspended from duty.

The president of the Detective’s Endowment Association was unavailable for comment on O’Connell’s NY DWI.

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For the seventh year, the Salinas Police Department will be presenting turkeys to certain drivers who pass through a sobriety checkpoint Tuesday night. The decision on who gets the turkeys is random, and the event has become so popular that police are asking motorists not circle through the checkpoint multiple times in an effort to get the free gift. Police are also keeping the specific location of the DUI checkpoint a secret.

The turkeys are donated by local businesses, the police department and citizens who wish to contribute.

Those suspected of driving under the influence in the Northern California town will be arrested as usual. The Salinas sobriety checkpoint may be the only one that drivers seek out rather than try to avoid.

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The wife of US Senator Richard Lugar was arrested around 6:30 pm on November 18 for suspicion of driving under the influence in Virginia. Charlene Lugar was stopped by police in McLean after noticing that her car had front end damage and was trailing smoke.

Lugar, 77, was taken to the Fairfax jail and given a breath test. While the results are not known, Lugar was booked on charges of VA DUI. She was released several hours later. Police believe that Lugar struck a parked vehicle in her McLean neighborhood.

Senator Lugar’s office issued a statement saying the family is

DuPage County Associate Judge Thomas C. Dudgeon ruled that a state law allowing police and municipalities to seize vehicles of Illinois DUI offenders is unconstitutional. The law is intended to penalize repeat DUI offenders caught driving with a suspended driver

Roger Thornton, fire chief for the small Illinois village of Sauget east of St. Louis, has accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors in a case of IL DUI in St. Clair County. Thornton must complete two years of probation, pay a $3,000 fine and attend alcohol counseling. If he is not arrested for another incident of driving under the influence in Illinois during probation, his conviction will be sealed.

Thornton was driving while intoxicated when he crashed a village owned SUV into a concrete pole on October 18. He had no prior DUI arrests on his record.

Thornton expressed regret for