The Utah Highway Patrol says 65 motorists were stopped for DUI during the Halloween weekend (Oct. 28-31). (Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol)
SALT LAKE COUNTY – With many people taking Monday off to extend their Fourth of July weekend, the UHP is also extending their DUI patrols. Lieutenant Jeff Nigbur says, “We have 241 overtime shifts that are going to be worked from Friday to Tuesday.”
The “all hands on deck” DUI blitz is scheduled for Saturday night, but, Nigbur says they have money set aside for increased patrols over the next five days. Also, even though the law lowering Utah’s blood alcohol limit to .05 hasn’t gone into effect, yet, Nigbur says troopers have always been able to pull over and arrest impaired drivers whose blood alcohol level is below .08. “We’re just going to do our job and focus on getting impaired drivers off the road,” Nigbur says.
But, they’re not just looking for drunk drivers. They’re also going to look for speeders and people who aren’t buckled up. Nigbur adds, “We want people to slow down. We want people to wear their seatbelt. We don’t want them to speed. These are all the main factors in a lot of our fatal crashes.”