Body camera footage from a traffic stop on Jan. 1, 2025 (Murrieta Police Department).
A driver pulled over on New Year’s Eve for allegedly swerving on a road in Southern California was caught on police body camera footage telling a police officer, “I’m the DUI tonight” — when he apparently meant to say “designated driver.”
In the video, recorded on Wednesday at about 12:40 a.m. during a traffic stop in Riverside County, the man said, “I was just dropping off my friend because I’m the DUI tonight.”
“You’re the DUI tonight?” the officer asked.
“Yes, sir,” the man responded.
“Do you mean to say the DD?” the officer asks, using shorthand for “designated driver.”
The man admits to drinking beer and Champagne two hours earlier before the video then cuts to his field sobriety test. He is seen struggling to maintain balance and nearly falling multiple times before he was booked into jail for DUI.
The Murrieta Police Department used the video to promote public safety for the holiday. The agency said it employs two officers who specialize in DUI investigations and receive additional training in detecting and investigating impaired drivers. The agency also said it routinely conducts patrols and driver’s license checkpoints to further deter drunken driving.
Every day in the U.S., some 37 people die in drunk-driving crashes, about one every 39 minutes, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2022, alcohol-impaired driving claimed 13,524 lives.
About 32% of all traffic crash fatalities in the U.S. involve drunken drivers — with blood alcohol levels of .08 or higher. On average, over 10 years from 2013-2022, about 11,000 people died every year in drunk-driving crashes.
“Driving after drinking is deadly,” the NHTSA said. “Yet it still continues to happen across the United States. If you drive while impaired, you could get arrested, or worse — be involved in a traffic crash that causes serious injury or death.”
Last month, NHTSA launched its winter holiday Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over national enforcement mobilization campaign.
“I urge everyone to do their part to help save lives this holiday season. Plan a safe and sober ride home,” Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said. “If you drive impaired by alcohol or drugs, you’re putting yourself and others around you at risk, and the consequences can be devastating. Let’s make this holiday season a memorable one for all the right reasons.”
The post ‘I’m the DUI tonight’: Police bodycam catches New Year’s Eve ‘designated driver’ slipup during traffic stop first appeared on Law & Crime.
