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Gehrke: Legislators say Utah’s new 0.05 DUI law will save lives, but the data doesn’t back that up

A driver in a 2015 Subaru Impreza was making a left turn at the tricky intersection of 2100 South and Highland Drive in Sugar House a little before midnight in July 2017 when his car collided with a man on a scooter going through the light.

As is generally the case, the scooter lost. The driver, who was wearing a helmet, died.

A blood test showed the 27-year-old man driving the Subaru had a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 percent.

If this same crash happens Sunday, after Utah’s harshest-in-the-nation DUI law takes effect, the driver might also be facing a charge of automobile homicide and five years in prison.