TEMPE - The following is a release from the Department of Public Safety:

Thanks to media attention given to the problem of motorists stopping and/or slowing to view the Tempe fireworks display while traveling on the Loop 202 freeway, Arizona Department of Public Safety Officers investigated only four collisions in the area of Loop 202/Scottsdale Road at the time of this year’s Tempe Town Lake fireworks displays. 

There were two collisions in both directions on the Loop 202 caused by inattentive drivers during the fireworks display.  One collision involved minor injuries.  Two of the four collisions in the area resulted in DUI arrests.

This year, DPS Officers conducted rolling traffic breaks in both directions of the freeway once the fireworks display began which helped drivers slow down, pay more attention to their driving and keep the flow of traffic moving.

From 1:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. on July 4^th, the Metro East Bureau of the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Highway Patrol Division made 18 arrests for impaired driving.