Officials say Utah has the lowest DUI-death rate in the nation due largely to a Utah Highway Patrol initiative to crack down on drunken drivers.
A report by the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice presented to a legislative committee Wednesday says 16.4 percent of all traffic deaths in the state were alcohol-related in 2009.
It’s the lowest ranking in the country, where the average is 32.1 percent.
Thirty-one people died in Utah in DUI crashes last year, three fewer than the year before.
UHP superintendent Col. Daniel Fuhr says troopers stepped up their DUI enforcement as part of an initiative to make 10 percent more arrests than last year. The result was a 26 percent increase.
However, he tells lawmakers not to expect the figures to be sustained at in the future. Fuhr says the UHP’s priority this year is seat-belt use.
