Vehicle impound — Utah Permit Test

When a Utah driver is arrested for DUI the officer may have the vehicle or motorboat impounded.

The car does not stay at the roadside for a friend to collect. It goes to a yard and starts costing money.

If a driver is arrested for DUI, the officer may have the vehicle or motorboat impounded.

The owner of an impounded Utah vehicle must pay towing, storage charges, and administrative costs before it is released.

Three separate charges, and the storage one grows every day the car sits in the yard.

Fees the owner must pay include towing, storage charges, and administrative costs.

An impounded Utah vehicle that is not claimed within the allowed time shall be sold.

Leaving the car in the yard does not end the matter. Eventually somebody else drives it away.

If an impounded vehicle is not claimed within the allowed time, it shall be sold.

A Utah vehicle may be subject to criminal forfeiture and sold where the driver is convicted of DUI and was previously convicted of a felony DUI, a felony drug-related driving violation, or automobile homicide.

Forfeiture is the state keeping the car for good, and it follows a driver who has already been convicted of the worst offenses.

their impounded vehicle may be subject to criminal forfeiture, and may be sold

A Utah court may order an arrested person to pay all fees associated with the impound or to reimburse anyone who paid them.

Whoever fetched the car from the yard does not have to carry the cost. The court can push it back to the driver.

The court may order the arrested person to pay all fees associated with the impound or reimburse anyone who may have paid the fees.

What may an officer do with a vehicle after a Utah DUI arrest?

Have it impounded. The car does not stay at the roadside for a friend to collect. It goes to a yard and starts costing money. Utah Driver Handbook 2026-2027, p.54: “If a driver is arrested for DUI, the officer may have the vehicle or motorboat impounded.”