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Uber playing a part to help keep impaired drivers off Utah's roads


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SALT LAKE CITY — Uber has been covering the Wasatch Front for several years and now it’s launched service in St. George. More than 100,000 people have used Uber in the last few months.

David Reese loves driving passengers for Uber in Utah and sharing his love for his hometown. “This is a pretty nice place to live,” Reese said.

Reese hopes to make it a safer place to live as well, by keeping impaired drivers off Utah highways and roads and sparing those folks a DUI charge. “It beats having a fine and the loss of your freedom. That’s what a lot of people have told me when they had a DUI is it’s a loss of freedom and mobility,” Reese said.

The Utah Highway Patrol knows that keeping those drivers off the roads can save lives.

“Over the last 10 years, basically two-thirds of the fatalities we’ve had on the Fourth of July weekend have involved either an unrestrained driver or an intoxicated driver," said UHP Col. Michael Rapich.

It normally takes less than five minutes to download the Uber app, which shows you where you are and the closest car. Next, you request a ride and a driver confirms. You will be able to see the driver’s picture, his/her rating and license plate number. Then, the driver picks you up and takes you wherever you’re going.

Eric Schroeder is the general manager of Uber Utah. “It’s all cashless. The credit card is on file. You walk out, and there’s a receipt in our inbox,” Schroeder said.

First time Uber riders can get $15 knocked off their first ride price by entering the code “kslnews” into their app. So, it’s easy to share a ride and be safe.

“If you’ve been out partying, just open your smartphone, touch a button and a car will be there in a matter of minutes to take you wherever you want to go,” Schroeder said.

It’s a way to plan how to steer clear of a DUI.

“If they’ve been down that road, they don’t want to risk doing that again," Schroeder said. Jenniffer is a Special Projects Producer who heads up the Your Life Your Health, Zero Fatalities and High 5 initiatives. For questions, feedback or possible story ideas, please email jmichaelson@ksl.com.

Jed Boal

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