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DENVER (KDVR) — Agencies across the state are on the lookout, searching for impaired drivers as holiday celebrations wrap up.
The Colorado Department of Transportation reported 48 deaths on Colorado roads last December, half of those due to an impaired driver.
This time of year is known for being the deadliest season when it comes to impaired driving according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
On Dec. 14, 1997, Brittany Lamb said she was heading home to Littleton with her aunt after seeing the Nutcracker in Denver when they were hit by a suspected drunk driver.
“We were going south on Santa Fe and a driver who had been at the bar crossed over the median and hit my aunt’s car head-on,” Lamb said.
Her aunt died in the crash, and moments later the life flight helicopter carrying the suspected drunk driver along with two nurses and a pilot went down. Lamb said everyone inside died.
Lamb wasn’t in the helicopter and was rushed to the hospital.
“I had to get reconstructive facial surgery,” Lamb said. “I have plates in my cheeks and on top of my mouth. I broke my collar bone, I broke my fingers, but I was alive.”
Just 12 years old at the time, Lamb said it was a night that changed her life forever.
“You can heal from the physical wounds, but the mental trauma that happened that night has stuck with me forever,” Lamb said.
Last year, the Colorado State Patrol recorded a total of 80 DUIs in the state from Dec. 25, to Jan. 1. According to the data, the most DUIs recorded were in El Paso County at 12, then Jefferson County and Adams County each with 10 DUIs.
Colorado State Trooper Gabriel Moltrer said they want people to plan ahead.
“Don’t drink and drive,” Moltrer said. “Make sure you have a plan in place so that way if something happens you’re covered and you have that safety net.”
Lamb said she hopes sharing her story will remind others to think twice before getting behind the wheel.
“In this day and age, it’s so easy to find a ride home. It’s so easy to not get behind the wheel, yet people still do it at an alarming rate and so I just really want to educate people to stop and think what they’re doing before they get behind the wheel,” Lamb said.
A DUI could cost someone an average of $13,000 according to CDOT. Those who suspect an impaired driver on the road are asked to call 911 immediately.
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