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SALT LAKE CITY — The number of DUI arrests in Utah has increased again this year, and the Utah Highway Patrol is warning that it's prepared to make more arrests this Fourth of July weekend.
UHP says it is ready to do what it can to keep the state's freeways safe, and the public can do its part by planning ahead and not drinking or taking drugs and driving.
"We want people to make those arrangements ahead of time. Plan ahead. That way you don't put yourself into any kind of a situation to where you are facing that DUI arrest and now all those consequences that are going to occur from then forward," UHP Capt. Wade Breur said.
On Thursday, UHP gave its annual Fourth of July holiday reminder to not drive impaired — and to inform the public that there will be at least 80 extra DUI enforcement shifts across the state involving all police agencies who are looking for those impaired drivers from Friday through Tuesday.
DUI arrests — which includes impairment for both alcohol and drugs — are up in 2023, according to UHP statistics. Between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, there were 10,412 DUI arrests in Utah. From July 1, 2022 through Wednesday, there had already been 10,720 arrests.
From Jan. 1 through Wednesday, there have also been 382 alcohol-related crashes in Utah, resulting in 14 deaths. The UHP says there have also been 61 crashes in which drugs were detected in the driver's system, resulting in 33 fatalities. The statistics only account for the presence of drugs in a person's system but do not differentiate which drugs or if the drugs actually caused impairment.
Although the law that lowered the legal limit for a driver's blood-alcohol from 0.08% to 0.05% took effect in Utah in 2018, and DUI arrests are up over the past five years, "I don't think that is the reason for the increased DUI," said Breur, who added that there isn't a clear answer as to what is pushing the arrest increase other than the fact there are simply more people driving while impaired.
The average blood-alcohol content of a person arrested in Utah for DUI is 0.14% — or nearly three times the legal limit, he said.
He said the goal of the 0.05% law is to deter people from driving even after one drink. Overconfidence is the top reason people get behind the wheel even after they've had something to drink or have taken a prescription drug or an illicit drug, including marijuana, Breur said.
The main message on Thursday from state officials is for drivers to think about the consequences of their actions.
"Unless you've been through that process before, you don't understand what it's going to do to you and the impact it's going to have on your life. And it's going to be substantial," he said.
And if the possibility of a serious crash or even death doesn't deter people from drinking and driving, the UHP hopes money will.
There are serious financial consequences associated with a DUI arrest.
"Those consequences start the day they're arrested. They'll have their car impounded. They're going to have to be paying upwards of $600 or more just to get their car out of impound. They may have bail or bond fees that they have to pay to get out of jail. They're going to have to be paying lawyers. They're going to get a driver's license suspension immediately based upon their arrest for DUI. Then they'll even be paying reinstatement fees to the driver's license division just to get the driver's license back. So before a person even goes to court, a person could be facing thousands of dollars in financial penalties," said Tyson Skeen, the traffic safety resource prosecutor with the Utah Prosecution Council.
"Certainly we do not want to diminish the fact that (impaired driving) is dangerous. You're putting your life and other people's lives at risk. But if we can't appeal to that, then maybe we can appeal to your pocketbook," Breur added.
Even if a person is arrested for DUI without being involved in a crash or injuring someone, Skeen said it can take years to crawl out of the financial burden that such an arrest and subsequent penalties levied for a conviction creates. He says the fines and penalties are set by state statute. And those penalties don't include any potential attorney fees.
But Skeen said the state would much rather see a driver keep $10,000 for their own use.
"We want people to make better decisions on the front end. We don't want to have to punish people on the back end," he said.
