Peachtree City Police warn of dangerous DUI trend in Georgia

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - Police in Peachtree City say every deadly crash officers worked in 2022 was caused by a DUI driver. That revelation highlights a disturbing rise in the number of DUI arrests in the city and echoed across the entire state of Georgia.

Law enforcement officials have seen a steep increase in drunk driving cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and has dramatically increased each year since.

Peachtree City police say the number of arrest have triple from before the pandemic, including daytime DUIs. In January, the police department says they found a young woman passed out behind the wheel of a pickup truck at an intersection in the middle of the after. Drunk driving during the day used to be rare, they say.

Police Lt. Chris Hyatt says the community mirrors other communities in this trend. Total DUIs charges in 2019 were 88 and more than doubled the next year during the pandemic to 176. The trend accelerated in 2021 and continued in 2022.

Daytime DUIs and those connected to drug use have more than doubled in the same time period, police say.

Police say part of the increase in the DUI numbers is the result of increased enforcement, but they believe that accounts for such a dramatic increase in DUI arrests.