Updated at 12:05 p.m. Sunday
One person was killed on San Diego County roadways during the first 36 hours of the New Year’s holiday period, according to the Highway Patrol.
From 6 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Sunday, the CHP reported one fatal crash in the county. A 25-year-old Clairemont man was killed in Santee on state Route 52 after a 23-year-old woman driving in the wrong direction hit his VW Beetle head-on. April Thompson of National City was arrested and faces a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
CHP officers arrested 47 drivers in the county for suspicion of DUI in the same time frame, compared with 48 in 2011. Last year there was one person killed on county roadways during the first 36 hours of the holiday period. The number of DUI arrests reflects only those made by the CHP and does not include arrests made by other law enforcement agencies.
Statewide there were nine traffic fatalities from Friday night to Sunday morning, compared with 12 during the same time in 2011. CHP officers arrested 723 drivers for suspicion of DUI, compared with 932 last year.
In Orange County, one fatality was reported and 38 DUI arrests were made in the first 36 hours of the holiday period.
