Groundhog Day. Déjà vu. Intimate familiarity. We’ve done this before, right?
Colorado motorists collectively experience varied emotions when it comes to a heightened police presence on roadways spanning the state, of course. Anyone who has ever suffered a speeding ticket and resulting citation invariably jumps a bit when they see flashing lights in near proximity. As drivers, our nerves understandably dance a bit when we see law enforcers on prominent display on Colorado streets and highways.
And we’re certainly seeing them now, in Labor Day’s wake and as we steadily move toward autumn during the latter days of summer.
At such a time, we submit that the Groundhog Day referenced above (we’re talking Bill Murray here) is well-placed, given that summer’s waning is annually marked by the same law enforcement campaign in Colorado – over and over again, year upon year.
Namely, that is the state’s annual Labor Day DUI enforcement effort, a massive sting operation focused on spotlighting a huge police presence and securing as many drunk driving convictions state-wide as possible.
How encompassing is Colorado’s September DUI campaign?
State motorists who have literally been around the block a time or two know from past experience that the annual DUI blitz is large and laden with potentially dire consequences for select drivers.
Here’s a relevant number supplied by the Colorado Department of Transportation linked with last year’s The Heat Is On initiative: The 2019 crackdown yielded 1,184 arrests.
That number is certainly worth pondering for a moment. It equates to criminal charges being brought against scores of Colorado drivers each day during the extended Labor Day campaign (which actually began in mid-August).
The resources brought to bear in the effort are considerable – even flatly awesome. Reportedly, and as noted in a recent CDOT article, this year’s Heat program will feature “87 law enforcement agencies from all over Colorado.”
Which means this: Saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints will be operative across the state, with their maximum-arrest goal being crystal clear.
Understandably, law enforcers underscore the heavy penalties of a drunk driving charge. CDOT principal Darrell Lingk stresses to the public that, “The price of a DUI is never worth the risk.”
The downsides of a Colorado DUI conviction
Let’s take a look at that DUI price mentioned just above. Lingk hardly overstates the consequences, which often yield these results:
- Time spent behind bars
- Punitively high fines, often exceeding $10,000
- Spiked insurance premiums
- Stigma resulting from public knowledge of a conviction
- Lasting criminal record
Drunk driving charges hardly ensnare just a narrow demographic. In fact, individuals from virtually every conceivable background routinely face DUI-linked challenges.
When they do, timely, on-point and aggressive help from a proven legal defense team can often make a material difference in the outcome of their case.