North Idaho Forms Madd Chapter

The phone rang at 12:20 a.m.

Melanie Hougham raced to Kootenai Medical Center, where her daughter, Kimberly, was lying in the emergency room.

Kimberly Hougham had been thrown from the back of a motorcycle near Hauser, Idaho. She survived, but suffered cognitive damage to her brain and underwent at least three surgeries.

The driver, who had five previous DUIs in Spokane County, was drunk. He was fined, but never sent to jail.

“He walked,” Melanie Hougham said.

That was more than four years ago.

Now Hougham, who is president of a newly formed chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, wants to make sure that drunks never get behind the wheel.

In their inaugural holiday kickoff, members of North Idaho’s MADD chapter met with the public and dozens of law enforcement and emergency services workers on Wednesday.

The campaign, which encourages people to tie red ribbons on their cars, is designed to remind drivers not to drink during the holidays.

“They know these people are dedicated to stopping drinking and driving,” said Daneka Keith, director of victim’s services for MADD in Spokane.

Keith spoke to the nearly two dozen officers from the Idaho State Police, Washington State Patrol, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and the Post Falls, Rathdrum and Post Falls police departments.

“It only makes sense to team up with law enforcement, fire departments and paramedics,” Keith said.

Officers from both Idaho and Washington patrol Interstate 90, where drunken drivers travel across state lines, she said.

Idaho State Police have arrested 459 drunken drivers in North Idaho so far this year. There have been 243 alcohol-related accidents this year, ISP Lt. Curtis Exley said.

In other efforts to curb drinking and driving, Kootenai County is planning to introduce a new DUI court, patterned after the county’s drug court. The program is aimed at second-time offenders and drivers with excessive blood-alcohol levels - .20 or greater.

Qualifying offenders will plead guilty to charges and undergo treatment, checking in with attorneys, judges and probation officers.

In addition, another probation officer has been added as part of the county’s adult misdemeanor program.

The officer will track convicted drunken drivers, doing bar and tavern checks.