A total of 119 Operating While Intoxicated violations were issued by the Michigan State Police over Labor Day weekend after the agency declared it would step up enforcement.

The number is down from 150 in 2008, but there also was a decrease in patrol hours to 4,500 from 5,300, said Sgt. Jill McKelvey of the MSP traffic safety division.

There were 10 traffic fatalities over the holiday weekend as a result of nine separate accidents, two of which involved alcohol. Last year, the agency reported 12 traffic deaths during Labor Day weekend.

“We’re happy with the decrease,” McKelvey said. “Those numbers would have been a lot higher without the upped enforcement.”

The statistics are based on preliminary reports and do not include three MSP posts.

According to the report, two of the 10 deaths involved pedestrians who were hit by vehicles and three were motorcyclists.

Another focus of the agency was to enforce seat belt laws through Labor Day. MSP troopers cited 231 individuals who failed to wear a seat belt, compared to 426 last year, McKelvey said. Two drivers who died in accidents were not wearing seat belts.

Local enforcement

The MSP Mount Pleasant Post stopped 153 vehicles over the weekend in Isabella and Clare Counties. In addition, three OWIs were reported along with more than 30 cases of unbelted drivers, said Sgt. Del Putnam.

While increased enforcement was present in the area over the weekend, Putnam said the post reported two traffic deaths. Alcohol has not been cited as a factor in either case.

“I’m a little concerned that we had two fatalities in the area,” he said. “(The increased enforcement) can’t really be considered a success in that regard.”

The Isabella County Sheriff’s Department reported two OWI arrests. The agency also investigated six larcenies and breaking and entering crimes during the break, in which many students were out of town.

Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said not all the crimes involved students or their residences, however. He was not overly surprised by the holiday statistics.

E-mail the author: Jake Bolitho