SALT LAKE CITY — As the calendar creeps toward year-end holiday celebrations, Utahns are being urged to be careful out on the roads when celebrating with family and friends.
"We know people are gonna be out having a good time going to celebrations. There's gonna be times when that involves alcohol and that's great," said Col. Michael Rapich with the Utah Highway Patrol. "The one thing that we want to make sure we're pushing the message out there is if your celebrations are going to involve alcohol, make sure you have a safe ride home."
According to the latest report, there have been nearly 200 more DUI arrests in 2024 as compared to last year. Of those arrests, 72% were men and most had a blood alcohol concentration double the Utah legal limit of .05.
"Impairment starts with the first drink," Rapich explained. "When impairment starts, good decision making starts to go away, and our ability to risk avoidance, decision making, all of the things that go into making sure we don't do something foolish starts to become impaired along with alcohol consumption.”
Driving under the influence can do a lot more damage than citations and fines.
"We're all working together to make sure that these holiday seasons don't involve a tragedy for someone who's just simply trying to spend time with families and loved ones and having a good holiday season," Rapich shared.
Along with the Utah Highway Patrol, the state's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services is also working to promote DUI awareness.
”We're continuing to train and educate through many means," said DABS executive director Tiffany Clason. "The licensee community, so that they have any support that they need or want from us to help create plans for responsible service for legal and safe service and create safe environments for patrons.”
A new QR code is part of the awareness message.
”a great way to participate and to make a plan to have a safe sober ride home is by having that QR code and using that QR code for WCF to provide a $10 Uber credit for any patron that needs it," Clason explained.
WCR Insurance is sponsoring a $10 Uber ride credit voucher program across 45 bars and restaurants in the Salt Lake Valley this holiday season.
”Making sure that we can protect Utah and other communities as we have expanded commercial lines into four states is critical to making sure, during this time of year, that we're getting people home safe when they are out enjoying the holidays," said Ken Houting with WCF Insurance.
The updated vouchers are an expansion of their program from prior years. Last year, the company gave out 500 rides through vouchers with eyes on providing 2500 this year.
"My hope is that through efforts like this, for people taking their own responsibility in planning for a sober ride home, we'll be able to see the remainder of 2024 without any alcohol-related incidents or tragedies," Clason said.
"the simple message is, if you're going to drink, don't drive, and make sure you're planning that ahead of time," added Rapich.
Every single UHP trooper will be working a variety of shifts this season in hopes of preventing the next tragedy.
