{"id":1317434,"date":"2019-12-27T22:05:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T05:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=992102"},"modified":"2019-12-30T09:47:27","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T16:47:27","slug":"one-crazy-trick-to-avoid-a-nye-dui-call-the-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/one-crazy-trick-to-avoid-a-nye-dui-call-the-cops\/","title":{"rendered":"One crazy trick to avoid a NYE DUI: Call the cops"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Garfield County Deputy Thomas Moser looks up driver information while conducting a traffic stop south of Glenwood.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A great way to ruin a new year is to get a DUI right after the ball drops.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement beefs up patrols around New Year\u2019s Eve not to ruin anyone\u2019s year, but to make sure they, and everyone else on the roads, live to see it through, according to Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario.<\/p>\n

In fact, Vallario would prefer someone call a non-emergency line <\/a>and ask law enforcement for help rather than get behind the wheel drunk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to prevent somebody from getting arrested or hurting somebody,\u201d Vallario said.<\/p>\n

For those ringing in the new year in Aspen, vouchers for the Tipsy Taxi are available at most places, offering rides for revelers as far as Glenwood Springs.<\/p>\n

But Glenwood Springs and surrounding towns don\u2019t have a comparable service.<\/p>\n

If all else fails and there truly are no other options for a partier to get safely home, Vallario would prefer intoxicated would-be drivers ring the authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cCall us. We would much rather give you a ride home if we can, or find you a taxi, or find another resource, than give you a DUI,\u201d Vallario said.<\/p>\n

Across Colorado, 334 drivers were arrested over the seven-day New Years\u2019 party binge.<\/p>\n

During the New Year\u2019s enforcement period last year, from Dec. 28, 2018 to Jan. 2, 2019,  Garfield County agencies reported arresting 10 drivers as part of the state\u2019s high visibility DUI enforcement.<\/p>\n

Garfield County law enforcement agencies don\u2019t always participate in the statewide enforcement programs, but they do put more patrol cars on the road during the holiday season.<\/p>\n

From mid-December until after New Years, the sheriff\u2019s office adds patrols watching for potential drunk drivers during the holiday party season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason we beef up our enforcement is because we anticipate more people out there partying,\u201d Vallario said.<\/p>\n

Vallario isn\u2019t a fan of DUI checkpoints in the region, partly because of the manpower required.<\/p>\n

If deputies are checking cars in one area, they might miss an impaired driver somewhere else. And if a crash occurs or some other call comes in, Vallario doesn\u2019t like his deputies tied up.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Increasing) the number of officers out there watching traffic, seeing what\u2019s going on, making traffic stops, seems to be more effective. More arrests come out of that,\u201d Vallario said. \u201cOf course, we\u2019d like to see zero arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plus, nothing stops someone at a checkpoint from spreading the word about the checkpoint setup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t take long for someone to see a checkpoint and either go another way, or call a buddy back at the bar and say, \u2018hey, go another way,\u2019\u201d Vallario said.<\/p>\n

The goal of DUI arrests is to prevent frequently fatal drunken driving crashes.<\/p>\n

In 2018, 71 crashes were potentially caused by drunk drivers, according to state data<\/a>. A total of 35 people were injured, and three died, in those suspected DUI accidents.<\/p>\n

Vallario encourages anyone who overindulges to find alternatives to driving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing illegal about being intoxicated. The only laws that pertain to that are once you get behind the wheel of your car,\u201d Vallario said.<\/p>\n

tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Garfield County Deputy Thomas Moser looks up driver information while conducting a traffic stop south of Glenwood.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent A great way to ruin a new year is to get a DUI right after the ball drops. Law enforcement beefs up patrols around New Year\u2019s Eve not to ruin anyone\u2019s year, but to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1317434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 07:24:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1317453,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317434\/revisions\/1317453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}