UHP to hold DUI blitz for 4th of July weekend


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DAVIS COUNTY — Each of the last two years, the Independence Day weekend was the deadliest holiday of the year. Ten people died on Utah roads during the extended weekend in 2013 and 2014.

For those who have lost loved ones in DUI crashes, the grief can resurface with news of other fatalities.

"It is very personal," said Melissa Larkin, president of the Salt Lake Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "We don't want anybody to have to go through this."

Larkin feels the pain every time she learns about a drunk driving death. Her boyfriend was killed, and her brother nearly died when their car was hit by a drunk driver five years ago. That one crash sent a ripple of tragedy through several families.

"There are so many lives affected by just one gentleman who decided that he was going to drink a lot and drive," she said.

So, she got involved with M.A.D.D. to help other victims.

"I relive all of that again, and I put myself in the shoes of those victims," she said.

UHP Trooper Lawrence Hopper sees it the same way when he's on patrol.

"Impaired driving is 100 percent preventable," he said. "When officers have to go to their families' homes to tell them they're not going to be coming home because they were hit by a drunk driver and killed, it becomes personal."

Friday night, he'll be at a multiagency DUI checkpoint on Highway 89 in Davis County. Hopper said officers are not trying to catch anybody by surprise. Troopers want the public to know they're out there.

"Maybe if they realize we are out there, they will think twice about getting behind the wheel if they are impaired," Hopper said

Even with a warning, Hopper knows they will take drunk drivers to jail Friday.

"Until we eliminate drunk driving altogether, there's always room for us to try to get out there and try to make a difference," Larkin said.

In Salt Lake County, extra troopers will be out on the roads to put a lid on aggressive driving, drunk driving and not buckling up. Troopers want everyone to enjoy the holiday with zero fatalities.

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Jed Boal

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