Cops gear up for drunk-driving crackdown
Rocky Mountain News
Published August 16, 2006 at midnight
Law enforcement agencies are gearing up to be part of a national campaign against drunk drivers starting Friday and running through Labor Day, State Patrol Chief Mark Trostel warned today.
"The goal of the public-awareness and law-enforcement campaign is to reduce the number of injuries and deaths caused by drink drivers," Trostel said.
"To accomplish this objective, the Colorado State Patrol and more than 60 police and sheriffs departments are planning to intensify enforcement efforts across the state."
The new campaign slogan is "Over the limit, under arrest," referring to any driver caught with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher.
It’s part of the on-going "The Heat Is On" campaign.
The State Patrol reports that during the 2005 Labor Day weekend, six people died in traffic crashes in Colorado, one of them involving alcohol.
During last year's 25-day crackdown, Colorado law enforcement agencies made more than 1,800 DUI arrests.
A DUI conviction typically results in a suspended driver's license and can cost offenders at least $10,000 in attorney fees, court costs, fines, increased insurance rates and time away from work.
The increased enforcement runs from 6 p.m. Friday through midnight Sept. 4. During this time, the CSP and law enforcement agencies throughout Colorado will conduct increased DUI patrols, saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints to take intoxicated drivers off the road.
Agencies with either traditional or roving checkpoints include: Aurora, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Fort Collins, Fruita, Golden, Jefferson County, Larimer County, Mesa County, Park County, Parker, Thornton, Weld County and Westminster.
The patrol additionally points out that in Colorado 217 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2005.
In 2004, nearly 13,000 people were killed nationwide in highway crashes involving an impaired driver or motorcycle operator with an illegal blood alcohol level.
And 41 percent of the 1,672 motorcycle operators who died in single-vehicle crashes in 2004 had levels .08 or higher.
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