When you think of the times you should be extra wary of drunk drivers, late Friday or Saturday night probably come to mind. Sunday afternoon? Not so much.

But the AAA of Southern California is giving you one big reason to keep your eyes peeled if you're on the road this Sunday:

The Super Bowl.
]
Yeah.

Unfortunately, some football fans like to get a little too beer'd up for the big game. The AAA says drunk-driver-involved collisions in California increase 75 percent on Super Bowl Sunday compared to other Sundays in January and February.

In L.A. county alone the crashes jump 55 percent, the AAA says. That's according to a 10-year analysis of injury and fatal crashes by the AAA.

Last year the AAA found that Super Bowl Sunday was good for 276 injury and fatal crashes over a 10-year period in the Golden State.

The last time the organization did this, in 2004, it found a 41 percent increase in DUI collisions versus other January and February Sundays. So things are getting worse here.

In fact, the AAA says 175,407 drunk driving citations were issued in 2012 alone in California. Dealing with a DUI case will now set suspects back almost $16,000 in court costs and attorney's fees, the organization says.

What to do. The usual: Take a taxi or use a ride-app. Plan ahead. And, says AAA senior traffic safety researcher Steve Bloch:

The Auto Club strongly encourages party goers to designate a sober driver to get them home safely after the game.

It's not rocket science.

Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Dennis Romero on Twitter at @dennisjromero. Follow LA Weekly News on Twitter at @laweeklynews.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.