Halloween can be a fun time for just about everyone, including kids as well as adults. Halloween parties are very common as adults all over the country, including in Denver, get together to have a good time. Unfortunately, sometimes those parties can lead to a person being pulled over for suspicion of DUI.
The Colorado State Patrol, together with the Colorado Department of transportation, recently joined forces to crack down on drinking and driving across the state. In October of 2012 there were more alcohol-related deaths in the state than in any other month. During the week of October 30 through November 4, officers arrested 570 drivers for DUI in 2012. It is known as “The Heat Is On” campaign and officials run the program year-round with 12 designated periods of DUI enforcement.
According to reports those who are arrested for driving while intoxicated may have to spend time in prison as well as pay heavy fines. Even if it is a person’s first offense he or she may lose his or her license, as well as be ordered to install an ignition interlock device on his or her vehicle, which could be in place for as long as two years. “These fatalities are much more than a statistic to us. They represent lives lost unnecessarily to impaired driving,” says Darrell Lingk, Director of the Office of Transportation Safety at CDOT.
Hopefully these kinds of enforcement efforts will help deter drivers from getting behind the wheel if they are impaired. However, if someone is arrested and charged with a DUI, then he or she should probably seek professional help from an experienced DUI attorney.
Source: Northern Colorado 5, “Crackdown on impaired drivers this Halloween,” Oct. 30, 2013.