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DPS: No deadly crashes reported on New Year's in Midland-Odessa district

It's the 8th year in a row that Midland and Ector County have gone without a fatal crash over the New Year's holiday.

ODESSA, Texas — Law enforcement officers saved way more than one life over New Year's Eve this year. 

According to DPS, in the Midland-Odessa district there were no deaths from crashes over the holiday.

Beyond this, it became the 8th year in a row that Midland and Ector County have gone without a fatal crash over the New Year's holiday.

This streak is a massive feat because of the 31st and 1st being holidays. Often officers see multiple crashes and serious ones every day.

"There were 0 fatal crashes. There were 0 crashes[for OPD]. It's the 8th year in a row that Midland and Ector County have gone without a fatal crash over the New Year's holiday, which is awesome considering that ya know normally we average ya know at least a dozen here every day," Corporal Steve LeSueur with Odessa Police said.

"In Odessa it's very congested. It's way worse - we have a high number of accidents here including serious accidents unfortunately," LeSueur said.

A big reason for this lack of crashes was the supply of security.

Two local bars mentioned that they bulked security up on New Years with both police officers and their regular staff. 

Bar employees also say they would cut people off if they had had too much. 

Beyond this, managers at bars buy Ubers for their customers when they notice they've had too much to drink. 

"Whether it's 4th of July or New Years Eve - those typically seem to be the 2 biggest for us every year for drunk drivers," LeSueur said.

The lack of deadly crashes is something to be thankful for as we move into 2020.

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