DUI Victim Tree has first red bulbs of season

This holiday season should be filled with joy and happiness, but unfortunately, nearly 30 families have already experienced the heart ache of learning that their loved ones have been injured or killed in an impaired driving related crash.

According to police reports, since the Thanksgiving holiday, there have been 33 impaired driving related crashes that resulted in 28 persons injured and two persons killed.  Subsequently, 28 green light bulbs and two red light bulbs will be added to the DUI Victims Trees located in Beebe Medical Center, Kent General Hospital, A.I. Dupont Hospital, Dover Downs employee cafeteria, and online at www.DUIRealTime.com/SafeHolidays . These will be the first colored bulbs placed on the trees since the start of the Safe Family Holiday Campaign which began Nov. 21.
The DUI Victims Tree project memorializes impaired driving related deaths and injuries that occur during the campaign period by placing colored light bulbs on the tree to represent each victim.  Each red bulb on the tree symbolizes someone killed in an impaired driving related crash in Delaware between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.  Each green light bulb symbolizes someone injured in an impaired driving crash.  Last year, two people were killed and 27 injured in these crashes in Delaware during the holiday season.
DUI saturation patrols will continue throughout the entire holiday season and will supplement already scheduled Checkpoint Strikeforce DUI Checkpoints.  Last weekend eight people were arrested for DUI as part of Checkpoint Strikeforce.  This brings the total campaign DUI arrests to 305, however there have been 4,511 DUI arrest made in Delaware since Jan. 1.
For more information on these or any of our other campaign efforts follow on Twitter @DEHighwaySafe, go to www.ohs.delaware.gov, www.DUIRealTime.com/SafeHolidays or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE.