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August 31, 2010 in Region
Montana drinking and driving culture at crossroads
In this photo taken Aug. 21, 2010, the famous Oxford Bar is shown in Missoula, Mont. Montana has long been a state where you could crack open a beer and drive down the interstate just about as fast as you liked. Drinking and driving was legal until 2003, when it was changed only under heavy federal duress, and there was no specified speed limit on major highways. But spurred by the high-profile death last year of a highway patrolman at the hands of an intoxicated driver, Montana’s Old West drinking and driving culture is in retreat.
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HELENA, Mont. — Montana has long had a reputation as a place where you could crack open a beer while driving down the interstate just about as fast as you liked.
Until 2005, when the state came under heavy duress from the federal government, it was legal to drink and drive in many places. And a few years before that there wasn’t even a speed limit on major highways and in rural areas.
But spurred by the high-profile death of a highway patrolman at the hands of an intoxicated driver, Montana’s Old West drinking and driving culture is retreating. Judges are rejecting lenient plea deals and law enforcement leaders are exploring different ways of keeping track of repeat offenders.
Even the Legislature, which just a few years ago struggled mightily to ban open containers of booze in cars, is beginning to promise tough new laws. This comes after years of virtually ignoring the state’s ranking at or near the top of per capita drunken driving deaths.
Montana has long been tolerant of drivers who drink.
Some small town bars still offer cocktails in a to-go cup. Repeat DUI offenders are shuttled in and out of the system before they have a chance to sober up.
Montana has many isolated roads and almost no public transportation. A saloon era attitude toward drinking, coupled with Montana’s libertarian streak that eschews tough law enforcement or even letting local police set up roadside “safety checks,” combine for a deadly scenario, experts say.
“There is significant anti-government sentiment which spills over into impaired driving enforcement,” said Mothers Against Drunk Drivers’ Rebecca Sturdevant. “Rather than praising public safety officers for keeping our highways safe, I have heard legislators berate them for bothering drivers.”
But almost no one doubts the state is coming to grips with its drinking and driving issues.
A statewide conversation started last year after the high-profile death of Montana Highway Patrol trooper Michael Haynes — killed in a head-on crash after a bartender served the other driver 13 drinks over 3 1/2 hours. The judge in that case sent a message by throwing out a plea deal against the bartender in favor of mandatory jail time.
Headlines in the state have since been full of repeat offenders being charged with a 9th or even 10th DUI, keeping editorial pages abuzz with demands for a solution.
“Obviously it’s very exciting to see the change. It is a huge part of the culture here, drunk driving, binge drinking and underage drinking,” said Tawny Haynes, the widow of the officer who was killed. “Alcohol just seems to be way of life around here, a right of passage. I have nothing against alcohol, you just have to be responsible.”
Haynes, who said her youngest son only knows his dad as the picture on the wall, said she feels compelled to honor her husband — who led all troopers in DUI arrests before being killed — by giving a face to the problem.
“I think the people of Montana are really ready for this change that seems to be happening,” she said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that Montana led all states in 2008 in alcohol-related traffic fatalities per miles traveled. Montana had 229 that year in a state with just 1 million residents — compared to Rhode Island, which has about the same population but only had only 65 such deaths.
Not only are judges dishing out stiffer sentences, the attorney general has launched a pilot project in Helena to force subsequent DUI offenders to do daily tests for alcohol use — all at their own expense. Lawmakers who meet every other year will look at unrolling that program statewide then they convene in 2011.
“We didn’t want to wait for the next Legislature before we started taking steps, and so we put together a pilot that we hope will show some results,” Attorney General Steve Bullock said.
Bullock thinks all the publicity put on repeat drunk drivers is already helping. He says that so far this year DUI fatalities are down 40 percent, and he is cautiously optimistic that trend will hold.
“I think we have hit a point where Montana has said ’enough is enough for these subsequent DUIs,”’ the attorney general said.
It’s been a long road.
Back in 2003, state Sen. Jim Shockley led the lawmakers who killed an attempt to ban drivers from drinking a beer while they were driving — as long as the driver wasn’t drunk.
The outspoken civil libertarian railed against the U.S. Department of Transportation for attaching highway money to the issue. Now Shockley, running for state attorney general, is among those looking for tougher drinking and driving laws.
His plan would set up a 24-hour magistrate in Helena that police in the state could call to get a warrant to take blood from suspected drunk drivers. Right now, Montana drivers can refuse the test. They still lose their driver’s license but deny prosecutors that evidence for a DUI charge.
The proposed crackdowns will cost extra money at a time Montana is be looking to cut spending.
“All of these things are going to cost money, and that is a problem. But if the people really want something then we are going to have to do it,” said Shockley.
Tawny Haynes said lawmakers no longer have a choice.
“If this is what the people want, and I think it’s clear they do, then this is the direction the Legislature needs to go in,” she said. “I think people are sick of it, so it is not something they can ignore.”
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Antsy toddler kicked off plane at Sea-Tac 
straighttalk on August 31 at 9:09 a.m.
Why should it take a fatality to change Montana laws that only a person with common sense would understand was wrong.
How many other Montana deaths on the roads can also be attributed to drinking and driving.
reservedparking on August 31 at 9:40 a.m.
Add the 4-lane, no-barrier, 70 MPH highways (like 93 south of Missoula) to DUI and you have a recipe for disaster.
eagleproducer on August 31 at 10:01 a.m.
I’m sick of all the mad moms…
pamelar16 on August 31 at 10:30 a.m.
I am sick of spoketucky.
SpokaneLiberal on August 31 at 10:43 a.m.
I grew up Montanan. There is a general feeling that since the roads are so long and so sparsely traveled that the only real risk is to the drivers who are drunk killing themselves. Montanans are really an independent bunch. The Democratic governor supports tax cuts, is anti abortion, and is an avid hunter and fisher. He drinks beer and brings his dog when meeting with folks. the 55 mph speed limit also caused residual resentment in Montana - so whenever the feds apply pressure on roads we cringe. Do you know how long it takes to drive from Plentywood to Dillon at 55?
hcamper on August 31 at 11:18 a.m.
Great comments SpokaneLIberal. As a Montanan born and raised, I completely agree with your comments. My only caution to those reading the article is not to generalize the whole state. The population of Montana is extremely diverse, with plenty of beer drinking, 4 wheeling, gun toting, baseball cap wearing “gentlemen” to those with multiple degrees who just want to live in and enjoy some of the most scenic country god made. They don’t call it God’s country for no reason at all. Montana is a wonderful place with lots of great people. That being said, I feel the same way about Spokane and Eastern Washington.
westerly on August 31 at 11:34 a.m.
Montana, “Last Great Place”
SpokaneLiberal on August 31 at 12:55 p.m.
I forgot - Reserved Parking.
Growing up I always heard a saying in MT
“Pray for Me, ‘cause I drive Highway 93.”
beckycapps on August 31 at 12:57 p.m.
What happens in Montana is a local issue for Montanans. Why is it that a lot of people worry about what other people are doing. Washington state has plenty of issues that need addressed. Must be a slow day for the journalists in Spokane. Just another biased article trying to persuade others but now its reaching out to issues in another state. Come on Spokesman Review.
andrewz on August 31 at 1:21 p.m.
We posted this article because Montana is in our region, and many people from Spokane and North Idaho drive in the state, particularly during the summer. We figured it would be relevant and of interest to readers. The earlier comments suggest as much. I’d be curious to know what others thought.
hcamper on August 31 at 1:40 p.m.
Andrew, thank you for posting the article. Not only for your reasons, but Spokane and Eastern Washington is home to many people from Montana. Growing up in Missoula, the joke was what is the largest town in Monana? Spokane!
hcamper on August 31 at 1:40 p.m.
Andrew, thank you for posting the article. Not only for your reasons, but Spokane and Eastern Washington is home to many people from Montana. Growing up in Missoula, the joke was what is the largest town in Monana? Spokane!
flutieflakes on August 31 at 1:59 p.m.
That’s what you do on a Friday night in some parts of Montana- you stop by the bar, grab a few to-go drinks in styrofoam cups, and go drive around. Back in my wilder days I rode shotgun for a few of these escapades and looking back, I’m thankful I’m still alive.
reservedparking on August 31 at 3:10 p.m.
@SpokaneLiberal
I drove 93 between Missoula & Hamilton for the first time in my life last week. I was astounded. Closing speeds of 140+, and nothing between me & oncoming traffic except for 2 thin yellow stripes of paint. And speed limit? HA! :)
Teseract on August 31 at 7:38 p.m.
It’s been a few years since I was there last, but I do have to say this about Montana: They have a MUCH higher rate of driving in the right lane, and using the left to pass. I guess the closing speeds of those faster drivers are enough to keep them in the lane they belong in.
This is completely unlike the Spokane/CDA/Post Falls area, where most of the slowest traffic is in the left lane, and they sit there doing 5 under and wait for you to pass them on the right. Or worse, two vehicles doing the same 5-10mph under the speed limit in both lanes, keeping all traffic backed up in one tailgating, condensed accident waiting to happen.