Thousand Oaks crash kills 2; driver arrested for DUI

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.

Authorities say the driver was speeding and drunk when he crashed into some construction equipment at 1601 Potrero Rd. around 11:30 p.m.

Two men and two women were inside the car at the time. Two passengers were declared dead at the scene. The driver and a third passenger survived with minor injuries.

The driver, 22-year-old Collin Powell, was arrested and booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. The investigation is ongoing.

California Highway Patrol officials in Ventura County say while they have seen a steady decline in DUI fatalities since 2005, their work to get the word out that drunk driving kills is far from over.

"We know the message is getting out there, however, any time we have one single traffic collision that claims the life of anybody where alcohol is involved we feel that we need to do our job even better," said Miguel Duarte with the CHP.

CHP officials say schools doing their part to encourage students not to drink and drive, random DUI checkpoints, public service announcements and stiffer penalties for DUI offenders have all contributed to a decline in drunk driving.

"Unfortunately, there are people that sometimes still make that mistake. We want to get to those as well," said Duarte.

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