Pueblo County leads with highest number of impaired driving fatalities in state so far in 2022
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Friday, June 10, marks the beginning of the Summer Blitz DUI enforcement period. Along with cracking down on impaired driving statewide, the Colorado Department of Transportation reveals data showing that Pueblo County has the highest number of impaired driving fatalities in the state so far this year.
Between June 10 and 13, CDOT, Colorado State Patrol, and local law enforcement will widen their surveillance for impaired drivers. According to CDOT, law enforcement saw 186 DUI arrests during 2021's Summer Blitz.
CDOT reports the recent Memorial Day Weekend enforcement resulted in 125 arrests across 83 agencies. There have been 704 arrests made in the 2022 DUI enforcement period so far.
According to CDOT, preliminary crash data shows that 94 out of the 248, 38%, traffic fatalities in 2022 involved an impaired driver. That's up from 2021 when 74 out of 234, 31%, of fatalities involved an impaired driver.
So far this year, Pueblo County has the highest number of fatal crashes involving impairment, totaling 10. El Paso County has had eight impaired driving fatalities in 2022.
According to CDOT, most fatal crashes happen Friday night after 10 p.m. during the summer. As summer approaches, CDOT is reminding motorists that impairment by drugs or alcohol significantly increases the chances of being in a crash.
“Impaired drivers pose an extreme threat to Colorado roads and our entire transportation system,” said CDOT’s Office of Transportation Safety Director Darrell Lingk in a press release. “It takes both strict enforcement and outreach efforts to make our roads a safer place to drive — but the ultimate decision is in the hands of the motorist to never drive impaired.”
For more information on the DUI enforcement period, Heat Is On Colorado campaign, click here.
For more information on impaired driving court cases, drug toxicology results, and other impaired driving data, click here.
