MERIDIAN — On New Year’s Eve, members of the North Idaho DUI Task Force, @DuiIdaho tweeted “Don’t be the reason someone loses the one they love tonight”.  The message was meant to encourage drivers to plan ahead for a safe ride home if their celebration included alcohol. Sadly, not everyone heeded their advice.

Between Thursday, Dec. 31 and Jan. 3, Idaho State Police Troopers arrested 52 people charged with driving under the influence. Between Dec. 18 and Jan. 3, troopers arrested 127 people charged with DUI offenses. 

“The most important number is one we can’t calculate, and that’s the number of people not injured in a DUI-related crash,” said Trooper Scott Bolen, an ISP Law Enforcement Liaison with the ITD Office of Highway Safety. “We always urge folks that, if their plans involve alcohol, to have a plan to get home safely. Most people actually do that, and we appreciate them. But for those who don’t, we work hard to hunt them down before they hurt themselves or someone else. And that effort continues all year.”

Several DUI arrests were the result of calls from other drivers reporting a driver who may be impaired. The ISP expresses gratitude to those citizens. 

If you see what you think may be an impaired driver, call 911 or *ISP (*477).

ISP takes advantage of available grants to fund participation in nationwide education and enforcement campaigns, like the recent effort over the holidays. However, ISP Troopers are on the roads all day every day to keep impaired drivers off the roadways, and enforcing traffic and equipment laws to educate drivers on staying safe. Drive Well Idaho! 

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