State troopers arrested significantly more people for drunk driving in the 10-county Troop G district over Labor Day weekend than in 2009, troop spokesman Brian Mobley said.
In 2009, Mississippi Highway Patrol troopers reported 11 DUI arrests and gave 737 citations over the holiday weekend in the district, both of which were below the annual average, Mobley said.
The 2010 report, which shows 27 DUI arrests and 840 citations issued in the district, more closely reflects the average, Mobley said.
“I don”t know what to attribute (the difference) to,” he added.
Of the citations issued, Mobley said 423 were for non-hazardous violations like driving without a license, while 357 were for hazardous violations like reckless driving or speeding.
Eighteen people were ticketed for not wearing their seat belts and 11 child restraint citations were issued, he said.
Troopers also made two drug arrests, a felony arrest and a public drunkenness arrest.
All of the citations and arrests were made between 6 p.m. Friday and midnight Monday.
There were seven wrecks in the district during that time, with five people injured in two of those, Mobley said.
“We had a pretty safe weekend,” he added.
Statewide, troopers reported 149 DUI arrests and gave 7,221 citations, Mobley said. They also reported four fatalities in two of 115 wrecks across the state, he said.
The Troop G district includes Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, Choctaw, Lowndes, Monroe, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Webster and Winston counties.
Traffic reports from Columbus police and the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office were unavailable this morning.
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