July 4th DUI Enforcement Cites 312 Drivers

STATEWIDE — Law enforcement across Colorado were on heightened alert for impaired drivers over the Fourth of July weekend, citing 312 drivers during the latest The Heat Is On enforcement. The 312 citations are an increase from the 271 during last year’s enforcement.

“Unfortunately, DUI arrests over the Fourth of July weekend increased this year,” said Darrell Lingk, Director of the Office of Transportation Safety at CDOT. “Even one impaired driver is a tremendous hazard, and we thank our law enforcement partners for taking 312 impaired drivers off the road who were putting others in danger.”

90 agencies participated in the enforcement period with the Colorado State Patrol (64 arrests), Aurora Police Department (39 arrests) and Colorado Springs Police Department (33 arrests) recording the most arrests.

To date 2,983 impaired drivers have been arrested in the five The Heat Is On enforcement periods this year. The next enforcement period is the Labor Day Crackdown from August 19 to September 6. There are a total of 12 enforcement periods throughout the year.

“It’s unfortunate that impaired drivers make the bad decision to put themselves and all others on the road in danger,” Col. Scott Hernandez, Chief of CSP. “With Colorado law enforcement agencies working sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols, I’m sure many alcohol related crashes were avoided over the holiday weekend.”

To access CDOT’s The Heat Is On arrest database visit bit.ly/HIOarrests. Arrest data can be sorted based on law enforcement agency, county and enforcement period.

The CDOT Highway Safety Office provides funding to Colorado law enforcement for impaired driving enforcement, education and awareness campaigns. The Heat Is On campaign runs throughout the year with 12 specific high visibility impaired driving enforcement periods centered on national holidays and large public events. Enforcement periods can include sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and additional law enforcement on duty dedicated to impaired driving enforcement. More details about the campaign, including impaired driving enforcement plans, arrest totals and safety tips can be found at HeatIsOnColorado.com.