SALT LAKE CITY — Having just one or two beers before getting behind the wheel could soon land you in jail for a DUI in the state of Utah.
Effective Sunday, December 30th, Utah will implement the most strict DUI law in the United States with the legal blood alcohol concentration for drivers going from .08% to .05%. That’s roughly one drink for a woman or two drinks for a man, but can vary due to height and weight.
This law was actually passed by the state legislature in 2017, but implementation was delayed until the end of 2018. The change was spearheaded by state Rep. Norm Thurston who says he was inspired by saying such as “buzzed driving is drunk driving.”
Thurston says his main motivation was to encourage people to drink more responsibly and to ultimately save lives adding, “We really don’t want people making the call for themselves… Reality is, if you’ve been drinking, you’re impaired at least a little bit and you shouldn’t be driving.”
