PHOENIX — Arizonans floored their gas pedals more often this Fourth of July weekend than they did last year, according to the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
Authorities issued 210 criminal speeding citations over Independence Day weekend in 2025. It was a notable increase from the 173 issued in 2024.
Civil speeding violations also surged. This year, authorities handed out 3,241 civil speed citations, compared to just 2,166 the previous year.
What did Arizona drivers do wrong this Fourth of July weekend?
Even when speeding is taken out of the equation, the trend remains clear: Arizonans received more driving citations overall this year. Authorities issued 2,514 non-speed-related citations in 2025, up from 1,893 in 2024.
Many drivers were also distracted the weekend fireworks erupted over Valley skies. Authorities issued 166 distracted driving citations this year, a massive leap from the 61 citations for this civil offense issued in 2024.
Furthermore, seat belt citations were up this year, with 214 in 2025 and only 147 in 2024.
The highway safety report also noted an increase in child restraint citations, with 48 this past Fourth of July weekend compared to 35 last year.
What did highway safety report say about driving while intoxicated?
One silver lining is that there were fewer total DUI arrests: 306 this year and 335 the year before.
There were also 77 DUI drug arrests this year, a sharp drop from the 92 arrests in 2024.
Fewer people — 242 — were arrested for misdemeanor DUIs in 2025, while 280 people were arrested for this offense in 2024.
The Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety also tallies extreme DUIs, which are cases where driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) exceeds 0.15%, separately from aggravated and misdemeanor cases. This year, there were 61 extreme DUI arrests. In 2024, there were 64.
However, there was an increase in aggravated DUIs: 64 this year, while there were only 55 in 2024.
It should be noted that there were fewer cumulative officers and deputies partaking in traffic enforcement this Fourth of July weekend compared to last year.
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