Utah, Jan. 1, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — After the nation’s toughest DUI law went into effect in the Beehive State on Sunday, the Utah Highway Patrol made nearly a dozen arrests on New Year’s Eve, though all were above .08, which was the old limit.
“Troopers arrested 11 people for DUI during our blitz efforts last night,” said a tweet from UHP. “None were below the old .08 per se threshold. One of the DUI Squad Sergeants made an arrest of someone with a .257 BAC, over five times the new .05 per se limit! Great work, Troops!”
On Dec. 30 at 12:01 a.m., Utah law regulating a driver’s blood alcohol concentration changed from a .08 threshold, to a .05.
At a Monday news conference, UHP Colonel Michael Rapich said: “Really the message we have is we’re still out doing business, our troopers are still employing the same standards and the same operating procedures, that if they become suspicious that someone might be driving impaired, they investigate that,” he said.
Rapich added he hopes the new law will result in a decrease in DUI arrests.
“If we can make people to make a good decision on the front end — not put themselves in a position to drive while impaired, to put other people in danger, to put themselves in danger, and definitely not put themselves in a set of circumstances where they could be arrested for driving while impaired, because that is not a good result either,” Rapich said. “We hope to see a big change.”
UHP officials said if people are out drinking, they are ideally asked to find another way to get home, such as using a designated driver, calling a cab or downloading a rideshare app such as Lyft or Uber.
For FAQs on the new DUI law, click here.
