GALVESTON, Tx – During the first weekend of Mardi Gras, Galveston police were not letting anyone drive on the island they suspected may be drunk.
Just after midnight on Saturday morning, patrol pulled over two men in a sedan and quickly located an open bottle of Cognac inside.
The driver easily passed a field sobriety test so officers were able to let him off with a citation for an open container.
Another driver who fled police was not as lucky.
When he refused a Breathalyzer test, he was taken to the county jail where a judge ordered a test on his blood to see if he was driving while intoxicated.
"It's a destination here. People come down for the weekend to have a good time," Galveston PD Patrolmen Jeff Murdock told Channel 2 during a ride along.
Often that good time ends with a drunk driver in jail, or worse. The island is homes to some of the most drug and alcohol related crashes in the Houston area.
In Harris County, there's an even more staggering statistic.
"Harris County is the drunk driving capital of the country," said John McNamee, of Mother's Against Drunk Drivers, citing the percentage of fatal crashes versus other cities in the United States.
Carol Levin is living proof of the problem with intoxicated drivers in the Houston area. Her son and his girlfriend were killed by a drunk driver in 2006.
"He used his vehicle as a lethal weapon," Levin told Channel 2's Bill Spencer.
Chanel 2 investigates requested the Texas Department of Transportation's crash reporting information system database for the Houston Metro area.
The state provided Channel 2 investigates with crash data going back to 2012.
Using mapping software to plot each alcohol and drug related crash in the database, Channel 2 investigates was able to identify five hot spots.
The map does not show a lot of crashes happening on some of Houston's busier freeways like the 610 loop or the 59 freeway.
31200152
App and mobile users, click here to view the map.
Along FM 1960 between I-45 and 290, at least 14 crashes occurred.
Both of these areas are within Harris County but the Sheriff's Office did not respond to Channel 2's inquiry regarding targeted enforcement.
In the Pasadena area south of 225 to Spencer Highway, there were at least 11 crashes.
A spokesperson for the Pasadena police department told Channel 2 that they did targeted DWI enforcement during the holiday season, but did not have any planned in the near future.
On Galveston Island, between 20th street and 61st street there were at least 10 crashes.
Murdock told Channel 2 that Galveston police are always on the lookout for drunk drivers, using telltale signs like checking to see if a vehicle is slow to react at traffic signals.
"My biggest problem (with drunk driving crashes) is that there are other options, just prepare the end of your night to get a cab or get a hotel," he said.
The final two hot spots are also in Harris County: The beltway between I-45 and 249, where at least eight crashes occurred, and Airline drive between Little York and Aldine Bender, where there were at least six crashes.