Helena – The Montana Department of Transportation and its law enforcement partners are reminding the public that minimum fines for DUI convictions doubled in 2015. The penalty for a first offense DUI is now $600 to $1,000 and up to six months of jail time. Additional fees, mandatory treatment, driver’s license reinstatement and other costs can total up to $10,000. “If you choose to drive after drinking, you are risking a high-cost increase in your holiday spending, not to mention the safety of yourself and others,” said Mike Tooley, Director of the Montana Department of Transportation.
Law enforcement agencies around the state as well as the Montana Highway Patrol are adding extra shifts during the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” national holiday DUI crackdown. “We want everyone to know that additional officers will be out on high alert for impaired drivers. The purpose of this is not just to arrest those who are breaking the law, but more importantly, to convince holiday revelers not to take the chance of getting behind the wheel,” continued Tooley. “Our goal is to prevent injuries and deaths caused by impaired drivers.”
In Montana over the last decade (2005 to 2014), during the time of Christmas to New Year’s, 25 of the 49 fatalities involved an impaired driver. Last year, 116 people died in crashes that involved an impaired driver—60 percent of the total fatalities in 2014.
Year-round prevention of impaired driving is critical to reaching Vision Zero, zero deaths and zero serious injuries on Montana’s roads.
Extra law enforcement patrols are funded by the Montana Department of Transportation as one of several strategic partnerships to reduce impaired driving in the state. For more information, visit plan2live.mt.gov or mdt.mt.gov/visionzero.
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