Police Ramping Up DUI Enforcement for Saint Patrick’s Day Weekend
If you're planning on going out and celebrating St. Patrick's Day this weekend, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office is reminding you to be safe and don't drink and drive. In order to keep impaired drivers off the road, the Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the Northern Colorado Traffic Safety Task Force and the Weld County DUI Task Force will be ramping up DUI enforcement throughout the weekend.
In a Facebook post, the Sheriff's Office noted that they will be conducting conducting saturation patrols looking for drivers impaired by alcohol and/or drugs. There will also be extra deputies, officers, and troopers out and about looking for drivers who are under the influence – some of these being Drug Recognition Experts.
As a reminder, the legal blood alcohol content limit in Colorado is 0.05 percent for Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI) and 0.08 percent for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). First-time DUI offenders can be punished with up to one year in jail, license suspension, and thousands of dollars in fines. On average, a DUI can cost more than $13,500 after considering fines, legal fees, and increased insurance costs. Penalties increase for repeat offenders. According to police, last year during the Saint Patrick’s Day Enforcement period, agencies across Colorado made 607 DUI related arrests, which was a 33% increase from 2016.