UHP asking drivers to find sober ride home this New Year’s Eve
Dec 31, 2024, 11:46 AM | Updated: 12:27 pm
TAYLORSVILLE, Utah – As festivities get underway and before the clock strikes midnight, Utah Highway Patrol is urging everyone to plan ahead for a safe night out, and a safe ride home.
From Dec. 1 to Jan. 1, UHP’s Lt. Cam Roden said they are making around 900 arrests for driving under the influence.
UHP said impairment starts with that first drink, and it is up to all of us to make the next right decision.
Law enforcement is not messing around: Across the state, they have their eyes on drivers, with over 240 extra DUI shifts throughout the holiday season.
Roden said there is more to getting behind the wheel when you have had a few drinks, and the consequences can come with a long list.
“There’s so many things that go into a DUI that people don’t anticipate. Between losing the driver’s license, having to arrange alternate transportation, court fines, fees, attorney’s fees, your vehicle being impounded. So there’s so many things that go into that. Don’t chance it and just plan ahead tonight,” Roden said.
Part of making the next right decision is made easier as state troopers do a joint campaign with workforce services and the state liquor agency. This gives people the option to get a discounted ride home through Uber.
There are also several resources to get a free ride this New Year: AAA has offered a ‘Tipsy Tow’ program for several years, and some local injury law firms are also offering to pay for your Uber, rather than risk getting behind the wheel impaired.
In taking care of each other, if you know someone who has been drinking, step up, and do not let that person get behind the wheel. Take their keys and help them arrange a sober ride home.
“And so it starts with that impaired judgment, and then it starts to impair other things, so it could be (you’re) unable to stay in your lane. You start too soon into an intersection. Driving with your headlights off,” Roden said.
Roden said from Christmas break to New Year’s break, there were approximately 500 DUI arrests.
Those are the ones being caught, not including however more there may be, another reason to be smart and make plans now before it’s too late.
