State begins effort to toughen DUI laws

Montana's high rate of drunken-driving deaths has prompted state legislators to consider reforming Montana's DUI laws.

An interim committee, which met for the first time this month in Helena, has been tasked with evaluating statutes currently on the books before the 2011 legislative session.

Some advocates of reform say Montana's DUI laws aren't strict enough and have become a complex patchwork of statutes arising from federal mandates, initiatives by legislators and task forces, plus case-specific circumstances.

In 2007, Montana ranked first in the nation for the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities per miles traveled, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Statewide, drivers under the influence of alcohol, drugs or some combination of both accounted for about 7 percent of all crashes in 2008 but more than a quarter of fatal crashes.

In the Flathead Valley, the number of DUIs investigated has risen from about 225 in 2004 to about 450 in 2008, according to state data.

"Ultimately, when you get behind the statistics, you're starting to … hear that people have had enough," said Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock, who was in Kalispell on Wednesday to honor a Montana Highway Patrol trooper killed in the line of duty by a drunken driver.

"I think we do have to look at all facets of the problem, the law and whether its a sufficient deterrent, the culture, and I think there is a culture of permissiveness, and also the back ends of treatment and education," Bullock said.

The Montana Community Change Project (a federally funded organization dedicated to reducing binge drinking and drunken driving) and other advocates recommend that the interim committee:

n Require responsible alcohol sales training for alcohol retailers and servers to reduce minors' access to alcohol and prevent over-serving already intoxicated people. The training currently is voluntary.

n Create a deterrent for repeat DUI offenders by reducing the number of DUI convictions it takes to reach felony level from four to three.

n Require first-time DUI offenders to install an ignition interlock in their cars before getting back behind the wheel. A similar program in New Mexico reduced alcohol-related traffic fatalities by 35 percent.

n Close a legal loophole by criminalizing a driver's refusal to provide a breath sample. Currently, at least eight states provide criminal penalties for breath-sample refusal in addition to driver's license sanctions. Proponents believe that convictions for breath-sample refusal, a separate charge from DUI, should be counted as prior DUI convictions.

The interim committee is expected to meet again in late September.

"It's very encouraging to see lawmakers interested in creating a new system - one based on research and DUI prevention methods," Montana Community Change Project program director Brenda Simmons said.

Bullock, who said it is routine for officials in the state's driver's licensing bureau to come across driving records with five or six DUIs, presented National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awards Wednesday to Kalispell-based Montana Highway Patrol troopers Glen Barcus and the late Michael Haynes for their efforts in DUI enforcement.

Haynes, 28, died after a March 23 crash with a drunken driver. He was southbound on U.S. 93 north of Somers when the highly intoxicated driver of a Volkswagen heading north in the southbound lanes struck the trooper's squad car head-on.

The Volkswagen's 29-year-old driver, who was killed in the crash, had consumed eight pints of beer and two shots in two hours, according to Bullock.

Haynes, whose widow accepted the award Wednesday on her husband's behalf, and Barcus each made 72 DUI arrests in 2008.

"I think people just aren't scared about getting a DUI," said Tawny Haynes, who with other wives and widows of Montana Highway Patrol troopers has become an advocate of stricter DUI laws. "I don't think the punishment is severe enough that people aren't willing to go through it."

Haynes, who backs the reforms recommended by Montana Community Change Project, believes harsher DUI laws could have helped prevent the crash that killed her husband.

"For me, personally, I'm kind of taking over Michael's mission, and a big thing for him was prevention," she said. "I hope other people are able to look at me and look at [my children] and think twice about before they drink and get into a vehicle."

Haynes, who was sworn in as a trooper with the highway patrol in August 2006, was the third trooper to die in the line of duty on Flathead County highways in an 18-month period.

In October 2007, Trooper David Graham, 36, died in a crash two miles north of Kalispell when a pickup truck driven by an inattentive motorist crossed a turn lane and hit him head-on.

In August 2008, 29-year-old Trooper Evan Schneider was killed in a crash on U.S. 2 near Bad Rock Canyon. Schneider was hit head-on by a pickup truck that the vehicle he was pursuing forced into oncoming traffic. Alcohol was involved in the crash.

The deaths of the officers complicated prosecution of cases they had investigated.

Once an officer dies, the rules of evidence make it largely impossible to accumulate sufficient evidence for a conviction, according to the Flathead County Attorney's Office, which has been forced to drop a number of cases - often DUIs - investigated by the three slain troopers.

Some cases were dismissed outright and others were settled by plea bargains with significantly reduced sentence recommendations.

"Our ability to prosecute someone… is substantially weakened," said Flathead Deputy County Attorney Travis R. Ahner.

Prosecutors are unable to introduce investigative reports or video from cameras onboard patrol cars without independent corroboration, Ahner said. In some cases, investigative reports had yet even to be written.

Also Wednesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration honored the troopers of District Six - which covers Flathead, Lake, Lincoln and a portion of Sanders counties - with an award recognizing "outstanding performance" in crash reduction.

The overall number of crashes in the Flathead Valley has dropped from about 1,400 in 2004 to about 1,200 in 2008, according to Highway Patrol data.

Crashes on the U.S. 93 corridor through the Flathead and Mission valleys have decreased 25 percent, said Montana Highway Patrol Capt. Clancy King, who commands District Six.

"We've proven that more traffic stops lead to less crashes, and the less crashes troopers are investigating, the more stops they can conduct," King said.

Districtwide, the total number of crashes investigated by the patrol has remained at about 2,000 over the past three years, despite substantial growth in population and the number of vehicles on the road.

Flathead County, however, led the state in traffic fatalities for the third consecutive year in 2008. Twenty-five people were killed in 22 crashes last year on the county's highways.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com