Denver - The Colorado State Patrol and 52 law enforcement agencies made a record number of DUI arrests for a New Year's Eve enforcement period since the first one was held in 1998. Agencies report making 569 DUI arrests between 6 p.m. Dec. 30, 2008 and 3 a.m. Jan. 5, 2009. That compares to 473 DUI arrests over the New Year's enforcement period in 2007, 449 in 2006, and 407 in 2005.

"We're not kidding when we say law enforcement is aggressively enforcing the state's impaired driving laws," said Col. Mark Trostel, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. "Despite our repeated warnings and education about the impacts of drunk driving, there are still those who show an incredible disregard for their lives and the lives of others. It's time that the message finally sinks in that drinking and driving is a crime that kills more than 200 people each year in Colorado. It's totally unacceptable and preventable."

First time DUI offenders arrested after midnight on Jan. 1 face stiffer penalties that include losing their driver's license for 9 months. The new law allows these first-time DUI offenders a chance to get their license back after one month if they install an ignition interlock on their vehicle, which prevents the vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected in the driver's breath.

A loss of driving freedom is only one impact of a DUI, which also hits offenders in the pocketbook with fines and expenses that may exceed $10,000.

Many holiday partygoers in the Denver metro area planned ahead and used public transportation or a designated driver. More than 3,000 $5 taxi cab vouchers were distributed over the holidays by local businesses and MillerCoors as part of the Plan Ahead Colorado campaign.

"We commend everyone who planned ahead and took advantage of the taxi vouchers, public transportation or designated a sober driver," said Pamela Hutton, CDOT governor's representative for highway safety. "We'll never know exactly how many lives were saved by those who made the right choice, but we thank you and will continue our efforts to educate and enforce our DUI laws."

The Colorado State Patrol made 141 DUI arrests over the New Year's period, followed by the Denver PD with 87, Colorado Springs PD with 40, and Aurora PD with 31.

To view arrest detail by agency, visit www.dot.state.co.us/TrafficSafety/ and choose Reports on the header. Choose Heat is on! Enforcement, select New Years Eve 2008 and click View Report.