Utah Highway Patrol teaming up with other states to combat impaired driving

MERIDIAN, Idaho — The Utah Highway Patrol is joining colleagues from other states in urging drivers to buckle up, be safe and stay sober this New Year’s Eve. The unified effort is centered around safety and preventing DUI-related injuries.

“The safety of people on our roadways is a priority and this is a unified message from our partner agencies border to border: ‘Slow down! Drive sober and pay attention,'” said Idaho State Police director Kedrick Wills. “We appreciate our partner agencies who work together to keep dangerous drivers off our roads. Coming together across state borders strengthens the message that that DUI-related fatalities and injuries are preventable and impaired driving is not acceptable.”

The Western States Traffic Safety Coalition is comprised of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, California Highway Patrol, Colorado State Patrol, Idaho State Police, Montana Highway Patrol, Nevada Highway Patrol, North Dakota Highway Patrol, Utah Highway Patrol, Washington State Patrol and Wyoming Highway Patrol.

The emphasis on impaired driving on New Year’s Eve is the third joint initiative by the group in recent years. Leaders are working together to ensure roadways are well covered and that state borders pose no drop off in vigilance against unsafe drivers,
“As strong and dedicated as this unified effort is from law enforcement, support from our communities is essential. We each can make a difference by making safe driving habits a priority for ourselves and our friends and family,” continued Willis. “We can remind our loved ones to drive sober, drive at safe speeds, put the phone down, and buckle up. If we can each do these things for ourselves, more families will stay safe and whole.”

We will be out in full force this holiday season to help prevent tragedies on Utah's roadways.

This year as a policing community there have been over 10,000 DUI arrest in our state and there have been over 1900 crashes involving a DUI driver. pic.twitter.com/iImLhp0iyz

— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) December 17, 2021