Americans love to see how they stack up against the world and against each other. That might be one reason why the Colorado Department of Transportation has a website on which you can compare drivers in the counties in our state to see which ones arrested for DUI have the highest blood alcohol content (BAC) levels.
As you know, the legal threshold for BAC is 0.08 percent. Here in Denver, the average BAC is just over twice that: 0.166 percent. That means the average person arrested in our county for drunk driving is barely below the level (0.17 percent) at which they can be designated a persistent drunk driver.
Next door in Jefferson County, the average DUI driver, according to state statistics, is above the persistent drunk driver (PDD) minimum, with a blood alcohol content of 0.175 percent.
Pueblo County and Gilpin County match Jefferson in BAC, while western Colorado’s Mesa County has an even slightly higher average BAC, coming in at 0.176 percent for DUI drivers arrested in 2013.
Rural Saguache County had just 38 people convicted of DUI that year, and they were at the other end of the BAC spectrum, registering a relatively low 0.14 percent average. Crowley County, with even fewer arrests (just 9 that year) went even lower in BAC: 0.121 percent, the same as its rural neighbor, Bent County.
If you would like more information on the PDD designation, please take a look at our blog post of April 7. For more information on how Shazam Kianpour & Associates can help you defend your driving privileges, freedom and rights, please see our Persistent Drunk Driver page.