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38 people were arrested in January under Utah’s new .05 DUI law

In January, the first month the new law was implemented, 844 were arrested statewide; of those, 38 were arrested for driving with a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.079.

Sgt. Nicholas Street of the Utah Highway Patrol told FOX 13 that the numbers showed troopers made arrests based on impairment, which is the legal standard for pulling someone over.

Utah has the toughest anti-drunken driving law in the nation — most other states put the limit at 0.08 percent blood alcohol content, compared to Utah’s 0.05.

“It was never about the arrests. I’m far more interested in the reduction in crashes, injuries and deaths,” said Rep.