COLORADO SPRINGS — CDOT is teaming up with law enforcement agencies and impaired driving prevention groups to make the message loud and clear: don’t drive impaired this Memorial day weekend or any time for that matter.
In Partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), CDOT is honoring six veterans who were killed by impaired drivers on roadways.
At the same time, law enforcement agencies including Colorado Springs Police, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, and Colorado State Patrol are kicking off ‘the heat is on’ impaired driving enforcement period set to begin this weekend. An El Paso County Sheriff’s Office patrol car recently received a special ‘the heat is on’ vehicle wrap to help publicize the message.
The message comes at a time when impaired driving is unfortunately a growing issue.
A 2019study found a third of fatal crashes in Colorado were caused by impaired driving.
Numbers tracked by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) show 116 of the 416 Colorado traffic deaths that year fall in the category of suspected impairment.
That same year, Colorado Springs specifically was a hotbed for impaired driving.
Throughout the course of six summer enforcement campaigns conducted by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and local law enforcement, 2,999 impaired drivers were arrested in Colorado. Of that number, CDOT reported the Colorado Springs Police Department was involved in 283 arrests, the highest number in the entire state.
