(The Center Square) – Nevada’s “DUI Blitz” took place this past weekend and resulted in 38 DUI-related arrests across 818 traffic stops.
The second annual statewide anti-intoxicated driving effort involved 12 law enforcement agencies. The operation came at the end of a year marked by a considerable drop in traffic fatalities in the state.
“There’s really no excuse to be driving impaired here in Las Vegas or anywhere in the United States right now because you have so many options,” Nevada State Police spokesman Shawn Haggstrom told The Center Square.
“I’m not only talking about a designated driver,” the public information officer said. “You have Ubers, Lyfts, taxis, buses, everything available to you nowadays. So there’s really no excuse to drive impaired, and I always tell people to plan ahead. If you know you’re gonna go out and drink or use drugs or whatever, just don’t get behind that wheel. Just plan ahead.”
The state’s DUI Blitz ran from 6 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday during what AAA calls one of the heaviest weekends of the year for drunk driving.
This year the initiative resulted in 818 traffic stops, 414 citations and 49 total arrests, 38 of which were DUI-related. The Nevada State Police said it was unable to locate somebody within the agency who could provide details on the 11 non-DUI arrests.
The DUI Blitz started after State Trooper Alberto Felix and Sgt. Michael Abbate were killed by a drunk driver during a traffic stop on a highway off-ramp in 2023.
Haggstrom said state police plan to continue the annual event in honor of the two law enforcement officers.
“We thought it went very well,” he said about last weekend’s operation.
He later added, “ I’ll be honest with you, we would love to see zero [DUI arrests]. But unfortunately, where we’re at, that’s not realistic. But if we can get lower numbers, that means that we’re actually doing our jobs and that we’re making sure it’s safe for the holidays, because we don’t want those fatal crashes happening.”
The 2025 DUI Blitz saw a notable jump in activity from the previous year when just over 500 traffic stops were made, with 32 DUI-related arrests.
But the increased DUI-related arrests come in a year that has seen markedly lower traffic fatalities than last year. As of Oct. 31, 309 people had died in traffic fatalities, down 8.6% from last year. The two main causes of death were impairment and speed, with the most fatalities at 199 in Clark County, according to Nevada state data.
Last year, 419 people died in traffic incidents in Nevada, with 406 in 2023.
