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MILLCREEK — As a change in Utah’s DUI laws looms later this weekend, law enforcement officers were out in Millcreek Friday evening making sure there were no impaired drivers on the roads.
Unified police officers set up a DUI checkpoint near the intersection of 3900 South and Highland Drive about 10 p.m., and were there through 2 a.m., according to Unified police detective Keith Borders.
He said the point of the checkpoint was to let people know they were out enforcing the law.
“It’s just an area that if we can prevent it before it’s happening, or at least put it out to the public, they’ll know that we’re out and about and this is what we’re doing,” he told KSL TV.
They chose the area for the checkpoint because crashes are frequent there, and there are several bars nearby, Borders said.
Starting Sunday, if your blood alcohol concentration is more than .05 percent and you drive, you could get a DUI. The limit will be lowered to .05 percent from .08 percent, making Utah’s new law the strictest DUI law in the country.
In total, 563 drivers came through the checkpoint, according to a tweet from the Unified Police Department. If officers had any reason to suspect the driver might be impaired, they pulled the cars over for further questioning or field sobriety testing, according to KSL TV.
If drivers failed field sobriety tests, they were taken to a mobile command center on the scene for further testing.
Officials reported seven arrests during the checkpoint, including one for suspicion of DUI and one for having an open container in the vehicle.
Other arrests during the checkpoint included suspicion of drug possession, traffic violations and felony fleeing, officials said.
Utah Highway Patrol troopers said they hope the new law will act as a deterrent against impaired driving. During the last 10 years, Utah saw 30 fatal crashes where a driver’s blood alcohol concentration was between .05 and .07 percent, according to KSL TV.
“We are not expecting any monetary gain from this,” UHP Sgt. Nick Street told KSL TV. “We are hoping people will make better decisions on the front end of a night where they plan to consume alcohol.”
Contributing: Brittany Tait, KSL TV
