14 Drunk Drivers Arrested on Montgomery County Highways

More than a dozen people were arrested this weekend for driving drunk in Montgomery County, say Maryland State Police.

The department’s SPIDRE Team arrested 14 suspected drunk drivers while working on Montgomery County roads this weekend. Drivers tested had blood alcohol levels between .11 and .20; state law says anyone with a BAC above .08 is legally drunk.

One arrest was of a repeat offender, state police said.

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Just last week, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was joined by police officers, lawmakers and the family of slain Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta’s family as the governor signed SB 945, also known as Noah’s Law. The law requires the use of ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers.

Leotta, 24, was hit Dec. 3, 2015, by a car on Rockville Pike; he died a week later. The driver charged with fatally striking Leotta – while he was working as part of a holiday task force fighting drunk driving – pleaded guilty May 18 to a manslaughter charge.

Suspect Luis Gustavo Reluzco, 47, of Olney, had been arrested twice before for drunk driving and has a previous conviction for drug possession.

»SEE ALSO:

'Noah's Law' Signed, Targets Repeat Drunk Drivers

National Police Week Honors Officer Noah Leotta Among 123 Fallen

The SPIDRE program was launched in May 2013 and focuses on reducing alcohol-related crashes by targeting areas across the state with high crash rates involving impaired drivers. The goal is to improve highway safety and help Maryland achieve the goal of zero deaths on its roadways. The SPIDRE Team is funded by the Maryland Department of Transportation's Highway Safety Office.

As Memorial Day approaches, be sure to wear your seatbelt.

The Maryland Transportation Authority will be saturating the roads, checking specifically to see if people are properly buckled in, as part of a national "Click It or Ticket" campaign.

Increased seatbelt enforcement on Maryland highways, bridges and tunnels is scheduled for Monday, May 23, to Sunday, June 5, transportation officials say.

Buckling up is "the single most important thing you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe in a crash," according to Maryland Transportation Authority Police Chief Col. Jerry Jones.

Nearly half of fatal crashes involve someone not wearing a seatbelt, officials say.

Men are less likely than women to buckle up, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports; about 53 percent of men killed in crashes were not wearing their seatbelts, compared with 40 percent of women.

Recently, a Maryland woman who was not wearing her seatbelt diedfollowing a rollover crash on MD 100 in Howard County.

However, the trend is for more and more Marylanders to buckle up; statewide, seatbelt use was 92.9 percent in 2015, an increase of 0.8 percent over the previous year, transportation officials report.