There was a substantial increase in auto accident fatalities in California over New Year's Eve 2010, compared to the previous year. Overall, the California Highway Patrol reported that there were 12 fatalities in the state over New Year's Eve, compared to just seven fatalities last year. That is a substantial increase, and could be linked to the fact that there were fewer DUI arrests in California this year.

According to the California Highway Patrol, 499 drivers were arrested by the California Highway Patrol for driving under the influence during the 12-hour crackdown that began on 6 PM on Friday. A final tally of fatalities for the New Year's weekend crackdown which ended on midnight on Sunday is not available yet. Even the fatality toll of 12, is only for the 12-hour period beginning 6 PM Friday. When the final toll is available, Los Angeles car accident lawyers fear that it could be a substantial increase from last year.

The statistics are just a reinforcement of the fact that although drunk driving is not as much of a factor in auto accident fatalities as it used to be a couple of decades ago, intoxicated drivers continue to be a factor in a large number of accident fatalities in the country. Typically, approximately 30% of all accident fatalities in the country can be traced to drunk driving. Back in the ‘70s, those numbers were close to 50%.

However, Los Angeles drunk driving accident lawyers fear that a sense of complacency could be creeping into the overall public perception as far as drunk driving is concerned. The media especially has made much of the fact that DUI accident fatalities have been continually down over the past couple of years. California law enforcement needs to target DUI more strongly to bring down these fatalities further.