Why impaired driving arrests don’t spike during the Greeley Stampede ...Saudi Arabia

Though the Greeley Stampede attracts more than 250,000 visitors each year, the county’s largest event has little impact on the number of impaired driving arrests.

In addition to bringing in large crowds, the Stampede coincides with the Colorado State Patrol’s “100 Deadliest Days” — a statewide trend of increased traffic crashes and fatalities from Memorial Day in May to Labor Day in September. During 2024’s 100 Deadliest Days, 221 people were killed on Colorado roads, according to a state patrol news release. One-third of those fatal crashes involved an impaired driver.

The Stampede also overlaps with Independence Day, which was tied with New Year’s Eve for the single day with the most impaired driving crashes of last year.

Yet when the Stampede was in town this year — from June 25 to July 6 — law enforcement arrested 28 people for driving under the influence, an average of 2.33 arrests per day, according to county arrest records. In the 24 days of June prior to the Stampede, law enforcement made 55 impaired driving arrests, averaging 2.29 per day.

Though the total number of impaired driving arrests was lower than last year’s and up from 2023, the ratio of arrests per day before and after the Stampede compared to during the event was consistent with both years.

In 2024, law enforcement made 2.66 impaired driving arrests per day in June and July when the Stampede wasn’t active, as opposed to 3 per day when it was. In 2023, law enforcement averaged 2.07 impaired driving arrests per day during the Stampede, as opposed to 1.97 on non-Stampede days in June and July.

So why don’t impaired driving arrests spike during the celebration?

First and most optimistically, it’s 2025. Nobody can plead ignorance to the risks of impaired driving. And a more educated public should lead to fewer people on the road when they shouldn’t.

“I think people are a bit smarter about the way they consume alcohol now as compared to maybe 10 years ago,” Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams said.

The rise of ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft also contributes to fewer impaired driving arrests. This year, Lyft offered vouchers for a $20 daily credit to get home from the Stampede.

“In the not-too-distant past, those were non-existent,” Greeley Police Commander Mike Heck said. “And getting a taxi was pretty much non-existent, so that has come a long way.”

This year’s Stampede also had a designated pick-up and drop-off area just east of the splash park near Island Grove’s south entrance. Every night Heck was at the Stampede, people asked him to point them toward where they could be picked up.

“I was getting asked, ‘Where is the Lyft pickup place?’ ” Heck said. “And I would thank them right then for not driving, because I could tell they probably shouldn’t be driving, and tell them, ‘Right over here, just outside this gate.’ ”

Heck, who oversees both the traffic division and police operations at the Stampede, also fielded more than a few questions from attendees curious about what would happen if they left their vehicle overnight. His answer was simple.

“As long as it was legally parked, your car would not be towed,” Heck said. “The Stampede encourages you to leave it overnight rather than driving when you had a few drinks. It absolutely would not be towed or charged or ticketed or anything like that.”

But as much as personal responsibility has contributed to safer streets, both Reams and Heck acknowledge their respective agencies can’t patrol as much as would be ideal in their eyes.

“We still offer overtime opportunities and those kind of things. We just don’t have the same ability to flood the zone, if you will, the way we may have 10 years ago,” Reams said. “The calls for service are higher now than they’ve ever been, and the numbers just aren’t there anymore for us.”

While the Stampede is a team effort in all regards — the sheriff’s office polices the parking areas of the event and ramps up efforts immediately outside Island Grove, for example — the Greeley Police Department is the agency most strained in keeping the event safe.

“Our traffic unit didn’t write any tickets for two weeks. They didn’t do any DUIs for two weeks,” Heck said. “Our community outreach and engagement team didn’t go on any cleanups or aid with anyone experiencing homelessness because they were assigned to the Stampede.”

During the most recent Stampede, Greeley police did make impaired driving arrests at a slightly higher rate (1 per day) than they did before and since (0.9 per day). But Heck believes those numbers would have spiked in a more expected manner had resources not been so strained.

“If our two leading DUI officers weren’t assigned to the Stampede, I’m thinking those numbers would be higher,” Heck said. “That just shows you how many resources go to the Stampede.”

As the 100 Deadliest Days continue, the Colorado State Patrol is conducting sobriety checkpoints throughout the state to discourage drivers from hitting the roads while impaired. Those who are caught driving impaired can expect jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes and other expenses that can exceed $13,000, the agency warned in a recent news release.

The Colorado State Patrol advises drivers who plan on drinking, taking medications that can interfere with driving or consuming other impairing substances to stay at home or make a plan for a designated driver, a rideshare or public transportation.

Greeley throughout the year

Though crashes involving impaired drivers spike across the state during the Colorado State Patrol’s “100 Deadliest Days,” June and July are actually two of Greeley’s lowest months when it comes to impaired driving arrests.

From 2020 to 2024, the most arrests have come in May with 136, followed closely by January (136), August (136), October (135) and November (135).

February is the lowest month by a fair margin, with 110 impaired driving arrests over that five-year span.

Complete month-by-month numbers:

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