Make your own luck: Don’t drive impaired, plan a sober ride for St Patrick’s Day
Traffic Safety Pulse News
It’s no secret that St. Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated with four leaf clovers, plenty of green and drinking alcohol. Ahead of the holiday week, the Colorado Department of Transportation, along with Colorado State Patrol and local law enforcement, urge all Coloradans to drink responsibly during the St. Patrick’s Day DUI enforcement period, March 12-18. Safety remains a key factor in all CDOT initiatives, on and off the roads, including following COVID-19 guidelines when around others not from your household.
Almost 100 agencies will have increased DUI patrols on duty statewide and in high-risk areas during the enforcement to keep impaired drivers off of the roads. The 2020 St. Patrick’s Day DUI enforcement period resulted in the arrest of 195 impaired drivers.
The recent Presidents Week DUI period resulted in 335 impaired driving arrests. This is a decrease from last year’s 578 arrests during the same enforcement period.
The Colorado Springs Police Department (51 arrests), Denver Police Department (34 arrests), and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (20 arrests) recorded the highest number of arrests during the Super Bowl enforcement period. The Colorado State Patrol made 53 arrests.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,878 people were killed nationwide in 2018 in alcohol-related crashes where drivers had blood-alcohol content lower than the legal limit, meaning BAC levels of .01% to .07%. In Colorado in 2018, there were 1,227 DUI cases with a reported BAC between .05-.079 and 523 cases with a reported BAC below .05. Even if you are below the legal BAC limit, you can still be impaired enough to receive a DUI or DWAI (.05%) if an officer observes signs of impairment.
CDOT’s 2-Hourglass display is still on-site at Hazel’s Beverage World as a reminder to never drive impaired. The display’s message that the only way to ensure someone is safe to drive is to have a BAC of zero is a timely reminder ahead of St. Patrick’s Day. It will remain on-site at Hazel’s through the enforcement period.
CDOT has also partnered with BACtrack®, a leading breathalyzer company, to offer Colorado residents a limited-time discount of 30% off a personal breathalyzer from March 8-21, or while supplies last. Personal breathalyzers can be purchased at codot.bactrack.com.
Find local agency plans and total arrests for The Heat Is On enforcement periods at codot.gov/safety/traffic-safety-reporting-portal. Information about DUI laws in Colorado can be found at NoDUIColorado.org.
