Montana's DUI Legacy Lives On
Drunken Driving Battle: Will Montana Ever Win?
The state's drunken driving epidemic landed it in a familiar place this week: on top of the charts for DUI death rates. What are we going to do about it?By Amy Linn, 12-08-09
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| The car driven by Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Mike Haynes, who was killed by a drunken driver. Photo courtesy of Montana Department of Justice. | |
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When it comes to drunken driving, maybe Montana should be called the “state of denial.” For most of the past decade, the state has ranked among the worst in the nation for its high percentage of alcohol-related traffic fatalities and injuries.
Now, a new report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) declares that Montana in 2008 had the highest DUI-related death rate in the U.S.—for the second year running.
According to the NHTSA, Montana last year “had the highest alcohol-impaired fatality rate in the nation,” with 0.84 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (a common measurement for comparing driver data). In 2007, Montana’s DUI death rate, again the highest in the country, was .93 per 100 million vehicle miles. (To read the full report, click here.)
What this means in human terms is that 91 of the 229 traffic fatalities in Montana in 2008—40 percent—involved people driving while intoxicated (i.e., with a blood alcohol content that exceeded the legal limit of .08.) The national total for 2008 was similarly alarming: 11,773 people across the country were killed in crashes where DUI was a factor, the report says. In those fatalities, intoxication contributed to 32 percent of the deaths—a big proportion, but not as large as Montana’s.
The message isn’t a new one. Nearly every year in recent memory the statistics portray Montana as a DUI death zone. And the apparent problem is the pervasiveness. A war here against drunken driving would require taking action and transforming attitudes at dozens of levels: legal, social, medical, educational, parental, practical.
“We are in a battle here in Montana, and it’s a battle against the culture of the state and the acceptance of drinking and driving,” says Butch Huseby, deputy chief for the Montana Highway Patrol. To figure out where to find solutions, the Highway Patrol successfully lobbied for Senate Joint Resolution 39, enacted in April, which calls for a legislative study to examine the state’s DUI laws and its drinking culture.
“We’re sticking our heads into it more than we ever have, looking at everything from top to bottom,” Huseby said. “This is the top of our agenda.”
The Highway Patrol itself has been reeling from DUI tragedies. In March, trooper Mike Haynes became the second Montana trooper in 18 months to be killed by a drunken driver in the line of duty, after his patrol car was hit head-on on U.S. 93. The problem has “really struck home,” Huseby said.
The DUI web is so tangled in Montana that it even involves “boating under the influence,” highlighted by the August boating accident on Flathead Lake in which state Sen. Greg Barkus, whose BAC allegedly was twice the legal limit, crashed into the shore of Flathead Lake, injuring himself and four passengers, including Congressman Denny Rehberg.
In an excellent roundup (and a worthy read), Missoulian writer Michael Jamison points out that Barkus has a previous arrest for DUI; the deputy attorney for the prosecutor in the case has a previous arrest for DUI; and so does Barkus’ defense lawyer. “The lawyer’s case, however, was dismissed, in part because the arresting officer was not available to testify—he had been killed by a drunken driver,” Jamison writes.
Not long after the Barkus crash, acclaimed advocate Judy Wang, a 57-year-old prosecutor in the Missoula city attorney’s office, was killed in a car accident on I-90. The driver allegedly smelled of alcohol.
The state’s Resolution 39 describes the troubles this way:
--First-time convictions of driving under the influence rose 19 percent from 2004 to 2008.
--Repeat offenses increased 16 percent from 2004 to 2008, including second or subsequent DUI and felony DUI.
--According to a Montana Highway Patrol survey, 96 percent of Montanans think driving under the influence is a problem.
If only 96 percent of us refused to do it.
To check up on Montana’s DUI laws, go here.
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Comments
They were cited TWICE last winter for serving alcohol to minors.
The fines are so small, big companies like Winter Sports Inc. just don't care.
Did you know that there's no food to purchase during night skiing when many groups of young skiers go up there to party.
The bar is open though, and there seems to be enough money to hire a live band.
We also see underage kids drinking beer they brought up on the slopes, management won't do anything.
This did not happen when the ski hill was publicly owned.
Yeah , right. I wish I had started saving newspaper clippings from the Billings Gazette years ago when Joe X. or Jane Y. was arrrested for their 8th or 10th DUI, sometimes at the scene of a horrible accident or vehicular homicide. I think the highest box score I saw was a guy nailed for his 13th DUI , just in Montana. Glad I don't live near that guy's aluminum house or have children in the same 5 mile radius.
Of course, Montana is the state famous for its "reasonable and prudent" speed limit law till the Feds (rightfully) lowered the boom on that quaint notion.
Montana's failure to clamp down on serial alcohol offenders can no longer be defended as ' Custom and Culture trumps public safety and reasonable laws'. There is a peranent dark shadow over the State house in Helena that will not lift till the DUI laws are brought forward. It's well past the time to get tough on serial drunks. I'm not even broaching the domestic violence situation or other systemic downsides to reckless imbibition of alcohol. It' a dangerous drug, people. I'm Irish and grew up in a circle of alcoholics and the social booze culture in Wyoming. It's amazing so many of us survived it. But that does not excuse it.
A friend recieved her 2nd DUI in 5 years while visiting Colorado. That state treated her earlier Wyoming DUI as a Colorado violation as well ( reciprocal agreements between the state) , and she was subject to mandatory 30 days in jail, suspended driver's license for a year, and other punishments. Wyoming probation officers were obligated to treat her in her own home as though it were Colorado. Lots of unannounced visits, frequent spot breathalyzer tests, mandatory counseling and office calls..the strict gamut. She got the message.
Obviously Montana never got the memo. Get the damn drunks off the roads. Your personal liberty endangers my life. No excuses.
The Libertarian philosophy has been anachronistic since 1892.
The management has responsibity of pulling the passes of drunken teenagers out on the slopes.
The Whitefish Mountain management is also guilty of providing alcohol to minors, not once, but twice. So what's wrong with getting on their case about it? Huh?
They do not care what the laws of Montana require, they will just pay the piddling fine and ignore the public outrage.
Brendan, remember when they broke the law when they changed the terms of your ski pass, AFTER YOU PURCHASED IT?
Same thing, same people, different problem.
They just laugh.
Even if this modest improvement must take a back seat to the news that Montana's fatality rate is the worst in the nation, this ranking has its own caveats. According to the Montana Department of Transportation:
"A high percentage of miles traveled are at rural speeds compared to more urban states, thus increasing the likelihood of fatal crashes. The average national urban fatality rate is less than half of the rural fatality rate (about 1.0 compared to 2.3). Since Montana has the highest percentage of rural vehicle miles traveled in the nation, it should be no surprise that Montana has the highest fatality rate in the nation. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released a study during March 2006, in which they normalized various factors including rural versus urban fatality rates. The study found that Montana moved from #50 to #27 in fatality rate when normalized on urban vs. rural. So even though NHTSA data shows Montana as the worst state in fatality rate, states are not playing on a level playing field."
http://www.mdt.mt.gov/publications/docs/brochures/safety/probid.pdf
First I of all I said bringing beer to the ski hill is a time honored tradition, not that underage drinking is a time honored tradition. However I drank before i was 21 and I did so while skiing, however I always realized the implications of drinking. Also I ski Big Sky not Whitefish, so I don't what you mean about them changing the rules. Even still you say whitefish has gotten in trouble twice for serving minors. For a multi-million dollar establishment who serves thousands of guests a month, two slip ups doesn't seem like a problem with the institution, but rather the individual bartender. All I am trying to say is that there needs to be a change in perception regarding drunk driving on the individual level.