Estimated read time: 10-11 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — With summer in full swing, the Utah Highway Patrol is seeing more traffic, as well as an increase in violations that can impact public safety. Summer enforcement initiatives include identifying distracted and impaired drivers.
"When distracted driving laws were first written, we had no concept of what all the cellphone would become and how involved it is in people's lives today," said UHP Col. Michael Rapich. "The state Legislature has to balance personal liberty with public safety, but distraction is probably the most underreported contributor to vehicle crashes."
The agency's origins predate the necessity of Utah drivers being required to even have a driver's license — beginning with just two part-time officers, hired in 1925, to patrol Utah highways and enforce traffic laws.
By 1928, the agency employed five full-time officers and five years later, it was given the name it goes by today. A year later, the Utah Highway Patrol was given the responsibility to test applicants for Utah's new driver's license.
The state Legislature empowered the UHP with statewide law enforcement jurisdiction in 1935. And by 1940, more than 50 sworn officers were employed by the agency.
Today, according to Rapich, the UHP's original mission to patrol Utah's freeways and highways stands, but it has expanded to include providing security at the state Capitol and for the governor. In addition, the agency is part of the Utah Department of Public Safety with a commissioner that is part of the governor's cabinet.
"There are troopers that work outside of the Utah Highway Patrol; they work at the State Bureau of Investigations and also do statewide narcotics investigations. We have a statewide Major Crimes Unit that does death investigations on the highways, but also supports local law enforcement agencies with their investigations," said Rapich.
In rural Utah, the UHP supports local agencies and, according to Rapich, there are times when a trooper and a local sheriff's deputy may be the only law enforcement officers on duty for hundreds of square miles.
Public safety priority
Seat belt use in Utah is high, according to Rapich, but the fewer than 10% of Utahns who don't buckle up represent between 40-50% of highway fatalities.
He said every trooper is trained to identify impaired drivers, and the statewide agency makes one one out of every three DUI arrests in Utah, despite making up fewer than 10% of the total police officers on the roads at any given time.
Trooper Julio Roman, who has nearly four years with the UHP, was a police officer in North Carolina prior to moving to Utah. On a recent shift patrolling both directions of I-15 in Utah County, he responded to a citizen complaint of an illegally parked boat in Santaquin. Roman is typically a motor squad officer, patrolling on a motorcycle.
This particular day, however, he was in a marked Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle.
He would consistently predict throughout the day, simply observing a car ahead of or behind him, whether they were distracted or would pass us while speeding. And, distracted drivers, of which there are plenty, were consistently unaware enough of their surroundings while driving — not even noticing his fully marked police vehicle on the freeway.
"I've learned to identify several behaviors that tell me a driver isn't paying attention," Roman said. "They don't maintain their lane, they exit the freeway at the last second, some are visibly on their phone, a pattern of driving fast and then slow and, even the person that's driving too slowly all the time, is often using their phone."
Roman's cruiser was equipped with both radar (to detect the fastest vehicle ahead or behind) and a LiDAR hand-held gun to be able to lock onto specific vehicles while stopped — the proverbial speed trap.
While Roman intended to use LiDAR at some point, he was kept busy enough while driving that it wasn't necessary. Radar pinpoints a speed and troopers then visually identify the fastest moving vehicle and pace it, by matching speeds, to confirm they are the violator. Any vehicle immediately in front of or behind Roman's cruiser is easily identified as a speeder.
Roman wrote several speeding tickets, including for a motorcycle travelling at 114 mph. Roman first spotted the motorcyclist approaching quickly from far behind. He wagered whether the driver would spot him and slow down.
He moved one lane to the right, putting two lanes between him and the motorcyclist. It wasn't until Roman worked his way over as the motorcycle passed that the driver spotted us. According to Roman, motorcyclists often flee when they are caught driving excessively fast, so getting the license plate number was his priority.
This motorcyclist did stop and was ticketed. Due to past infractions, this man's license could be jeopardized by this new ticket when he goes to court.
The state Legislature has to balance personal liberty with public safety, but distraction is probably the most underreported contributor to vehicle crashes.
–UHP Col. Mike Rapich
In another instance, as Roman entered I-15 southbound, a Tesla car sped past other drivers in the right lane of the on-ramp. The driver failed to signal as he merged each time to reach the freeway.
Roman sped to catch up and radar clocked the driver at 87 mph in a 70-mph zone. A ticket was issued.
Throughout the day, many tickets were issued to drivers for using cellphones while driving and for not wearing a seat belt. In one instance, a grandmother taking her grandchildren to an appointment said she was in a hurry and forgot to buckle up.
Her driving record showed Roman that she frequently doesn't wear one. And, she was ticketed.
Roman also participated in two traffic slowdowns this day so that dangerous debris could be removed from I-15.
On the way to that citizen complaint about the boat, Roman pulled next to a speeding driver, who didn't notice him prior to a friendly honk or two, and simply motioned for the driver to slow down. The driver complied and the trooper continued on his way.
Spotting drivers under the influence
According Rapich, troopers who exhibit great proficiency for identifying and arresting impaired drivers are selected for the DUI enforcement squad that concentrates its overnight efforts throughout the Salt Lake Valley — away from the freeways.
In addition to the squad's efforts, which are concentrated around bars and restaurants, other troopers, on their normal patrols on I-80, I-15 and other highways, are also watching for impaired drivers. On a recent night shift, Cpl. Brock Ernstsen and at least one other trooper were patrolling downtown Salt Lake City.
As the night progressed, it was apparent that other agencies, including the Salt Lake City Police Department, were also concentrating manpower around areas with bars and nightclubs.
Ernstsen, who has been with UHP for more than eight years, was very familiar with the location of nearly every bar. Unfortunately, he could also point out the locations of many severe auto accidents and arrests associated with extreme DUI, including cases where sober people had been in the vehicles and could have driven instead, he said.
Just like Roman, Ernstsen has also learned to identify the behaviors that lead him to suspect someone may be impaired. Interestingly, they're almost identical to those associated with distracted driving. In addition, though, impaired drivers often drive without their lights on or the wrong way on a road.
As reaction times are slowed by alcohol or drug use, drivers will also often drive too quickly and/or stop suddenly, or drive and stop too slowly altogether. The first driver pulled over that evening had stopped far into the crosswalk for two consecutive red lights, setting off red flags for Ernstsen.
The driver admitted to having had a beer or two at a basketball game at the Delta Center earlier that night. Ernstsen spoke to the driver and conducted the first field sobriety test while the driver remained seated in his vehicle — asking the driver to follow his finger with only his eyes.
What many may not know is that troopers aren't simply watching to see if a driver can or cannot follow these simple instructions. Alcohol impairment will also cause involuntary spasms of the eyes that are noticable. Various drugs can cause pupils to dilate and the whites of the eyes to be red.
To an untrained eye, the driver appeared to struggle with some of the several field sobriety tests he was asked to perform after stepping out of his vehicle. The driver was not, however, impaired, as a breathalyzer test confirmed.
Ernstsen explained that part of the reason for drivers being subjected to so many different field tests is that some are more naturally proficient than others at some tasks. This particular driver may not be very coordinated, but he wasn't impaired.
UHP uses field sobriety tests created by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The tests are more varied and more time consuming than those typically seen on TV and in movies. Breathalyzer tests can be performed in the field and blood draws, voluntarily or by execution of a warrant, can be done following arrest to further validate the field sobriety tests.
While a trooper pulling over a driver for a speeding violation may only rely on the automatic use of his dash camera to record events, it was common for Ernstsen to manually engage the camera and begin speaking to further document his reasons for pulling over a vehicle in the first place.
As he approached an intersection, a car in the left turn lane next to us was sitting partly into the intersection on a green arrow and not proceeding. Ernstsen pulled to the left behind the car as it finally pulled away and the car then proceeded to start and stop while driving slowly.
After pulling the vehicle over and speaking to the driver, it turned out the tourists from Las Vegas were not impaired but simply lost and trying to find the garage entrance to their hotel.
Another driver, in a convertible, pulled away from a stoplight erratically and quickly and seemed distracted by the car next to him. As Ernstsen hit his flashing lights to pull the driver over, the car immediately swerved across several lanes of traffic before stopping on the right shoulder.
Despite the driver seeming fidgety and nervous, the interactions he had with the driver convinced Ernstsen the driver was only showing off for his friends in the other car and was not impaired. The driver received a warning for careless driving.
At approximately 1 a.m. Ernstsen saw a driver plow over a concrete median separating two turn lanes. After stopping briefly to check his car for damage, the driver proceeded at 11 mph over the speed limit.
Following a stop and field sobriety tests, the driver was arrested for suspicion of impaired driving. A backup trooper had arrived and the vehicle was searched. In addition to an open container of alcohol placed on the floor of the back seat, three vials of a white, waxy substance were found in the glove compartment.
Troopers tested that waxy substance and it proved positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Troopers explained that these more concentrated forms of THC can impair drivers more severely than smoked marijuana and every bit as much as alcohol.
Another 30 minutes or so was spent reading the suspect his Miranda rights and issuing the various traffic citations warranted. We also waited for a tow truck to impound the Mercedes. The driver was asked whether he'd voluntarily agree to a blood draw to confirm his level of impairment.
The driver refused and Ernstsen was able to request a search warrant for the blood draw from his vehicle's computer. The driver was then taken to the UHP offices in Murray.
After the warrant was approved — a judge is always on call — Ernstsen performed the blood draw. Another trooper witnessed it and then all evidence was booked, including two vials of the driver's blood.
The driver then agreed to an interview by Ernstsen. It would be another nearly two hours before the man was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.
At least six other drivers were arrested that Thursday night and Friday morning for suspicion of impaired driving by the UHP DUI squad alone.
"If there was a way for me to remain on the street while another trooper handled evidence and booked a driver into jail, I have no doubt, unfortunately, that I could get many more impaired drivers off the road each night than I can, as is," declared Ernstsen.
