NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A recent spring break and St. Patrick’s Day traffic operation from New Mexico State Police worked to cut down on crashes and dangerous driving across the state. The resulting operation led to thousands of tickets and dozens of arrests for drunk driving.
Police called the operation “C.A.R.E.”, which stands for Combined Accident Reduction Effort. Officers focused the operation between Saturday, March 11 and Sunday, March 19, 2023. (Notably, spring break continues for New Mexico’s largest school district, Albuquerque Police Schools, which will go back to class on March 27)
Of the more than 4,400 traffic citations that NMSP wrote, 245 were for not wearing a seatbelt, according to the State Police. The agency also arrested 95 drunk drivers and investigated 150 crashes.
Officers also issued 134 commercial vehicle citations, according to the State Police data. The New Mexico State Police say they plan on conducting similar operations on holidays throughout the year.
