Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Cameron Roden said the department typically sees an uptick in driving under the influence during the holiday season.
“With any type of celebration, sporting events and things like that where alcohol is related, we tend to see impaired driving go up,” Roden said. “From Dec. 1 through Jan. 1 is when we see quite a few. I think on average, we see about 900 DUI arrests within that time frame. So it shows a significant number of people out there driving around that shouldn’t be out there on our roadways.”
After the state legislature passed a bill in 2017, Utah’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for DUIs was lowered to 0.05, which is the lowest in the country. That roughly translates to a 150-pound female consuming two drinks in two hours, and a 200-pound male consuming three drinks in two hours. A “drink” is defined as one 12-ounce beer with 5 percent alcohol, one 5-ounce glass of wine or one 1.5-ounce shot of spirits.
A year after the Utah law took effect, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that fatal car crashes in the state had declined by 20 percent.
Utah’s BAC limit of 0.05 may seem strict compared to the rest of the U.S. But dozens of international countries have the same limit, including France and Australia.
Roden with Utah Highway Patrol said officers plan to saturate certain areas on New Year’s Eve to patrol for drunk drivers.
He said anyone who intends to drink Tuesday night should make a plan for a sober ride home, whether that’s through rideshare, a friend or family member, or public transportation.
“That way when it comes to the end of the night, they know how they’re going to get home safely,” Roden said. “”There’s no question about it, and they’re not put in a place where they have to make that bad choice.”
UHP has also partnered with other law enforcement agencies, state alcohol regulators and some bars to provide discounted rides. QR codes posted in some bars and liquor stores can be scanned to receive the $10 discount.
DUI penalties in Utah range based on a driver's number of offenses.. A first offense could result in a misdemeanor charge punishable by jail time, fines and license suspension.
According to a 2023 state DUI report, Utah law enforcement agencies made 11,246 impaired driving arrests between October 2022 and November 2023. That represents an 8% increase from the previous reporting year. More than 1,500 of those were made during enhanced enforcement efforts, such as holiday-related saturation patrols.
