Larimer County Ranks in Top 5 for DUI Repeat Offenders in Colorado
With the holidays, we'll see heightened police-agency presence around Northern Colorado in an effort to not just arrest those driving drunk, but to prevent it, too.
Nobody likes the idea of being one of the hundreds of people arrested over holidays; just like nobody likes the idea of drunk drivers being out on the roads, possibly causing fatalities.
it's not that hard to imagine that of all the drivers in Northern Colorado, there are more than a few that have been convicted for driving under the influence. Imagine now, the number of people you believe that are driving and have been convicted more than once. How high to you think that number is?
When you go through the process of being arrested and then convicted of driving under the influence, not only does it cost you about $13,000 in lawyer fees, fines, insurance rate hikes and more, but you are warned that those who are convicted are often arrested again for the offense.
The State of Colorado recently put out information regarding how many of the drivers arrested in 2020 for driving under the influence, already had a conviction for doing so on their record. Of the 64 counties in Colorado, Larimer County made the top 5 for the state.
Counties in Colorado with the Highest Number of Two or More DUI Convictions:
- El Paso (764)
- LARIMER (466)
- Jefferson (454)
- Adams (409)
- Arapahoe (391)
El Paso County has about twice as many people than Larimer County, so those numbers hold up, but Jefferson County has many more people than Larimer (583,000 vs 357,000) so you would think that Jefferson would have more repeat offenders. The fact that Jefferson ranks 3rd only puts Larimer in more of a bad light.
Here's a statistic you hate to see:
Over the last ten years, over 200,000 motorists in Colorado have been convicted for drunk driving.
The Colorado State Patrol along with other agencies will be conducting two more 'The Heat is On' patrols, the first for the Thanksgiving holiday.
From the State Patrol:
Your Colorado State troopers and local law officers will be sacrificing time with their families to eliminate the threat that impaired drivers present to motorists on our roadways.... History has shown us that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through the holiday weekend is an extremely popular time for people to gather and excessively drink. Don't ruin your holiday or anyone else's, plan for a sober ride.
In 2020, over 350 people across the state were arrested for DUI over the Thanksgiving weekend The next 'The Heat is On' patrol time frame, dubbed 'The Holidays Parties Heat is On,' will be December 15 through December 29.
Please, find a sober driver this holiday season.