LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Holiday Toll: 4 Dead, 316 Arrested for DUI

Four motorists died and 316 were arrested for driving under the influence over the Fourth of July weekend in Los Angeles County, the California Highway Patrol reported Monday.

Statewide, 22 people died in traffic crashes that occurred during the 54-hour period that began at 6 p.m. Friday and ended at midnight Sunday, said CHP Officer Esmeralda Leos.

Last year--when the Fourth of July was on a Thursday--there were 43 traffic deaths in the county over the four-and-a-quarter-day weekend. So this year’s total, which occurred in a period that was only about half as long as last year’s, was dramatically lower. There were 800 DUI arrests in the county last year, Leos said.