Denver law enforcement agencies will place DUI checkpoints in Denver, Lakewood, and Arvada tonight that officials say will remove impaired drivers from the road before they cause a crash.
The Metropolitan DUI Task force will set up one checkpoint in each city from 5 p.m. tonight to 3 a.m. the next day, said Brittany Janes, high visibility enforcement coordinator for Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).
The Denver Police Department will also deploy a Breath Alcohol Testing (BAT) Van at checkpoint operations to do breath tests onsite, according to news release from CDOT.
Colorado has seen over 100 fatal crashes this year involving an impaired driver, and almost 40% of those occurred in metro Denver, according to crash data from CDOT.
The data also shows that as of July 19, Denver County, Adams County, and Jefferson County were the counties with the highest fatalities due to impaired driving,
“Operating any motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs can result in a DUI, jail time and criminal fines …or worse, a fatal crash,” said CDOT’s Office of Transportation Safety Director Darrell Lingk in a statement to the press.