A Maryland man was arrested for drunk driving twice in one night last weekend, the state police have said.
Felix E.L. Mateo was first arrested at 12:54 a.m. June 12, then released to his wife. But only a few hours later, police spotted him again, still displaying signs of intoxicated driving.
He was again arrested and again charged with impaired driving. Both times, police say, his blood alcohol content exceeded twice the legal limit, 0.08%.
According to Maj. Greg Shipley, Mateo was among 80 drivers arrested by the state police over the weekend.
Another drunk driver sideswiped a trooper’s parked vehicle — while the officer was pulled over making a drunk driving arrest in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Maryland Ranks Poorly in Drunk Driving Study
According to a recent analysis by WalletHub, Maryland is among the most lenient states when it comes to drunk driving penalties. It ranked 47th out of 51, with only North Dakota, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and South Dakota being more lenient.
There were no clear regional trends, however; South Dakota’s southern neighbor, Nebraska, ranked sixth.
The study ranked states based on 15 factors in two categories: criminal penalties and prevention efforts. The former included policies such as minimum jail time, minimum fines, additional penalties for a very high BAC, and felony considerations. The latter included policies such as requirements for ignition interlock devices, which require drivers to blow into a device and demonstrate sobriety before the car will start, and mandatory alcohol abuse treatment.
The study examined policy only, and did not attempt to quantify enforcement of these policies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, roughly 1.4 million drunk driving arrests are made across the U.S. each year.
Roughly a third of traffic fatalities involve drunk drivers, and the economic losses associated with drunk driving border on $60 billion annually.
