Drunk driving fatalities hit 35-year high in Colorado as funding for DUI enforcement dries up

Drunk driving deaths are once again on the rise in Colorado.

The Department of Transportation says, last year, 271 people were killed by an impaired driver, the highest number in 25 years. At the same time, funding for the state's High Visibility DUI Enforcement Program is running out.

State Representative Gabe Evans has introduced a bill to create a dedicated revenue stream for the program.

"I'm honored to run this bill today and I do it for a long list of victims," Evans told the House Judiciary Committee. 

For 10 years, he helped get impaired drivers off the road as an Arvada police officer. 

"I saw broken homes and broken families," he said. 

Now, he's doing it as a state representative. The High Visibility DUI Enforcement program funds 40% of DUI enforcement in Colorado, including crackdowns on days such as Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick's Day and New Year's Eve.

It's set to go broke next year, resulting in more victims, Evans says, like 10-year-old Jasmine Nunez, who was seriously injured when she was hit by an impaired driver while walking home from school in Greeley. 

"I will never forget what looked like rolling up on that and seeing a 10-year-old girl between the road and sidewalk," Evans said. 

His bill would allocate $1.5 million a year from the marijuana tax cash fund for the program, which includes both education campaigns and DUI checkpoints.

"We're working to get the message out - plan ahead, drive safe, don't drive impaired. And at the same time law enforcement is out there looking for impaired drivers," said Fran Lanzer, executive director of MADD Colorado. "That combination results in people making better choices, never getting behind the wheel in the first place."  

Lanzer says as funding for the program has decreased, DUI fatalities have increased. 

In 2020, enforcement was down 24% statewide and DUI-related deaths were up 20%, which Lanzer says translates into 36 lives.

"Right now is one of the deadly times on Colorado roads in history," he said. 

Erin Agee's nephew was among the victims. She testified in support of the bill. 

"I don't want another family to go through what my family has gone through. No more DUIs. It needs to be in the past," she said. 

 "So we don't have more Jasmine Nunez's families torn apart by the actions of an impaired driver," Evans said. 

The High Visibility DUI Enforcement Program funded 12 education and checkpoint operations in 2021, resulting in over 7,000 arrests.