Every year, it’s the same, right?
First, state officials lead up to the extended Memorial Day holiday weekend with a campaign blitz of drinking-and-driving-related information and stated initiatives focused on potential DUI stops and attendant repercussions.
And then, over the course of several days, it is indeed the case that a notably heightened police presence is visibly apparent on streets and highways across the state. Roving saturation patrols are out in force. DUI sobriety checkpoints materialize at roadway entrances and exits from one end of Colorado to the other.
And high numbers of state motorists pay the consequences.
That term “pay” is, of course, far from being a mere figurative word choice in any discussion of drunk driving in the state of Colorado.
Just consider this following bit of information, supplied courtesy of the Colorado Department of Transportation: Reportedly, a state driver can reasonably expect to be slapped with more than $13,000 in fines, fees, spiked insurance costs and other exactions following his or her conviction on even an initial DUI offense.
Understandably, that breaks the bank for most people, spelling their clear need to timely consult with a proven Colorado criminal defense attorney well versed in advocating diligently on behalf of state motorists charged with drinking-related and other traffic offenses.
Here are two more germane and notable DUI-related statistics provided by state enforcement officials.
First, 372 state motorists were arrested for drunk driving over the Memorial Day weekend last year.
And, second, a CDOT estimate posits that, on average, a first-time DUI offender “can expect to spend a minimum of 170 hours dealing with the consequences.”