Don't test the dust deputy
Road patrol has led to 150 traffic tickets
Sheriff's Deputy Stewart Smith is constantly wiping a film of dust from the electronic equipment in his patrol vehicle. He keeps the windows rolled up, but fine particles of dirt and grit simply refuse to stay outside.
Tasked with enforcing speed limits on Flathead County's gravel thoroughfares, Smith spends all day on the roads with the worst dust problems.
His presence appears to be working.
"When I first got out there, I was writing a lot of citations," Smith said. "But now that they know I'm around, people have definitely slowed down."
County commissioners authorized the Sheriff's Office to spend about $60,000 this year to hire and equip Smith as part of a plan to mitigate the county's dust problem.
Smith, who works full-time on a rotating schedule between May 1 and Oct. 31, is strictly responsible for traffic enforcement on dirt roads and doesn't respond to other emergency calls, Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said.
"We want him to act as a deterrent to speeders," Meehan said. "Getting people's speed down reduces health and safety issues the dust creates."
Since he began patrolling some of the more than 60 dust hot spots across the county, Smith has issued more than 150 citations and 95 warnings.
According to Smith, roads most troubled by dust include KM Ranch Road, Mennonite Church Road, Ashley Lake Road, Spring Hill Road and Danielson Road.
But as the summer progresses, speeds at which people are being pulled over appear to be trending downward. Smith has ticketed fewer people doing 20 mph or more over the posted limit in the first half of July than he did in the first half of May.
Still, ticketed motorists traveled an average of 10 mph over the posted limit.
When the weather is warm and dry, the Sheriff's Office still receives seven or eight dust complaints a week from people living on dirt roads.
"I've spoken to a lot of people, and they're very glad to see me," said Smith, recalling one traffic stop involving a man who lives on a gravel road. "He was thanking me at the same time he was receiving a ticket."
Of course, not everyone is grateful to be pulled over.
"Yeah, I've been called a few names," Smith said.
He recalled one of his traffic stops on Ashley Lake Road where the driver was doing 58 mph in a 35 mph zone. The driver was upset and told Smith his family had lived on nearby land for 100 years.
"He was surprised to see a deputy out there," Smith said.
Whether Smith issues a ticket depends on the circumstances of the traffic stop, Meehan said.
"Some people you talk to, a warning truly does make a difference," he noted. "With others, you see the same vehicle continuing to speed again and again. They deserve a ticket."
Smith began patrolling the county's gravel roads in a marked Ford Crown Victoria, but upgraded to a marked Ford F-150 after the car took a beating from bumpy and pitted roads.
"People always slow down when they see a patrol vehicle, even if they're going the speed limit," Smith said.
The additional deputy is just one component of the three-year Road Dust Action Plan that commissioners adopted to avoid a $29,000 fine imposed in January 2007 by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for violating the Clean Air Act of Montana.
The plan, which will cost about $150,000 over the next three years, requires the county to take "reasonable precautions" to prevent excessive road dust.
The project's main components include adding law enforcement for dust patrols, posting more signs, and completing a dust palliative application. Flathead County has about 700 miles of gravel roads and 400 miles of paved roads.
Smith has served as a reserve sheriff's deputy, a major in the sheriff's posse, and the Evergreen school resource officer, Meehan said.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com