Extra holiday DWI patrols on Minnesota roads starts Wednesday

Minnesota family urges safe driving on anniversary of daughter's death

A Minnesota family is urging safe driving on the anniversary of their daughter's death in a drunk driving crash.

COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota drivers will start seeing extra DWI enforcement on the roads this weekend as part of a statewide effort to crack down on drunk driving this holiday season.

A Minnesota family who lost their loved one in a drunk driving crash 15 years ago is helping DPS educate motorists on the dangers of impaired driving.

Nineteen-year-old Breanna Remer died in a drunk driving crash near Lake Elmo just weeks shy of her 20th birthday and Thanksgiving. She was going around 100 mph, had a BAC of .13, not wearing her seatbelt and texting at the time of the crash.

The Department of Public Safety’s extra DWI holiday patrols campaign starts Wednesday and runs through Dec. 31. During that time, law enforcement officers will be looking for drivers who appear impaired, whether by alcohol or other substances.

One of out of every five deaths on Minnesota roads are drunk-driving related. In the last five years, 397 people died in drunk-driving crashes, with 79 of those deaths in 2020 alone.