The State - News from July 6, 1988

Traffic accidents killed 57 people on California roads over the Independence Day weekend, up from 51 in the same period last year, the California Highway Patrol reported. The CHP also made 2,257 arrests for alleged drunken driving in the holiday period, which ran from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Monday, CHP spokesman Steve Kohler said. That figure does not include arrests by local authorities. Of the 57 fatalities, 41 occurred in CHP jurisdiction and 39 of those victims were not wearing seat belts, Kohler said. Arrests were up from 1987 because 400 extra patrol shifts, most of them focusing on motorists driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, were dispatched, he said. Five sobriety checkpoints operated statewide.