DUI crackdown under way

By GWEN ALBERS Western News Reporter

Local police will participate in a nationwide crackdown of drunk drivers during August and over the Labor Day holiday.

Police will use extra patrols through an effort known as "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest."

"Make no mistake. Our message is simple," said Sgt. Duane Bowers with Montana High Patrol in Libby. "No matter what you drive - a passenger car, pickup, sport utility vehicle or motorcycle - if we catch you driving impaired, we will arrest you. No exception, no excuses."

Anyone with a .08 blood-alcohol level is considered legally drunk.

An average 170-pound man must have more than four drinks in one hour on an empty stomach to reach a .08 percent BAC. A 137-pound woman would reach it after about three drinks in an hour on an empty stomach.

In 2005, 14.7 percent of the crashes in Lincoln County were drug and/or alcohol related, said Julie Cole. Cole is project director for Safe Kids, Safe Communities and the Lincoln County DUI Task Force.

Two people died last year from those 47 crashes. Fifty were hurt.

In addition, Lincoln County had a higher percentage of alcohol and drug related crashes in 2005 than Flathead and Missoula counties, Cole said. In Flathead County, 10.6 percent of crashes were due to alcohol and/or drugs and 10.4 percent in Missoula County.

"We're a larger area with less population and a lot of crashes," Cole said.

The highway patrol, Libby police and Lincoln County Sheriff's office will beef up patrols during the program organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This year's effort is supported by $11 million in paid national advertising to help put everyone on notice that if they are caught driving impaired, they will be arrested.

"We're cracking down on the DUIs and trying to get them stopped before they create or become a another statistic," Bowers said.

Impaired driving is one of America's most-often-committed and deadliest crimes. Overall in 2004, more than 15,000 people died in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a BAC of .01 or higher. Of those, nearly 13,000 were in crashes where the driver's BAC was .08 or higher.