An article in The Washington Post indicates that Utah’s tough new DWI law might be working well. Here are the opening paragraphs:
“This new law won’t save lives, but it will make criminals out of moderate and responsible social drinkers and hurt Utah’s tourism and hospitality industries,” read the ad from the American Beverage Institute, a D.C.-based trade group.
But a new federal study that examined what happened after the law was passed in 2017 found Utah’s rate of deadly crashes dropped more quickly than in neighboring states and the nation as a whole. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analysis also found alcohol was less often a factor in crashes. And the changes came without cutting into Utah’s tourism industry, according to the study.
