By Bay City News
The California Highway Patrol in Marin County arrested twice as many teenagers 18 years old or younger in 2012 for driving under the influence compared to 2011.
In 2011, Marin area CHP officers arrested 10 people 18 years old or younger for driving under the influence. That number ballooned to 20 in 2012, according to the CHP.
The numbers don’t include arrests made by other Marin County law enforcement agencies.
However, officers made 10 fewer DUI arrests for underage drinkers between the ages of 19 and 20, the CHP said.
In 2011, officers in Marin arrested 50 people between 19 and 20 years old for driving under the influence. This past year, officers arrested 40 people between 19 and 20 on the same offence, the CHP said.
The arrests were primarily made on freeways and unincorporated county roadways within the CHP jurisdiction.
Officials with the CHP said parents should stress to their teens the options of calling a parent or taxi if they have been drinking and are face with a situation where they think they have to drive or a ride home has been drinking.
Officials said they rarely arrest a teen driver for DUI who is alone in a vehicle.
More information about the Marin CHP can be found on its Twitter page at www.twitter.com/CHPMarin.
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