Montana has a grim record of driving and alcohol. The Montana Department of Transportation reports that, in 2017, alcohol was involved in 32% of all traffic fatalities. In a survey by the Centers for Disease Control in 2012, the most recent available, 3.4% of Montanans said they had driven after drinking too much at some point in the previous 30 days — the highest rate in the nation.
That’s the history the Jefferson County DUI Task Force is battling. For almost 40 years, the task force — one of 36 such county-level operations in the state — has been promoting alcohol and driving safety.
The task force used to produce “ghost-outs” in county schools — day-long events where students would be randomly called out of class and sent to the auditorium for the rest of the day. The exercise was meant to bring to life the statistic that a person dies from a car crash as a result of impaired driving every 20 minutes.
These days, the focus is still on educating drivers while they’re young, but the tactics have changed. Now chaired by Barb Reiter, Jefferson County Prevention Specialist, the task force — a county government entity funded by DUI fines and license reinstatement fees — sponsors activities that include billboard campaigns and radio ads promoting alcohol and driving safety. It also works to raise awareness of seatbelt safety and underage drinking.
Pam Hanna, the Jefferson County Public Health School Nurse, who has served on the task force since 2015, said that the task force holds assemblies at schools to educate students — particularly eighth graders. Eighth graders, she said, are an especially important target audience, because they’ll soon be starting driver’s ed and learning the rules of the road. “That way, the message starts at an early age,” she said.
Then, the task force works to make the message stick. Each year, for example, it hosts substance-free Super Bowl parties for high school students at Jefferson and Whitehall. “The focus is to let young people know that they can have a great time with their friends without using something,” Reiter said in a recent email. She also said that “a lot of drinking goes on before, during and after the game,” and the substance-free Super Bowl party provides an alternative.
This year, Super Bowl events were canceled because of the icy and snowy weather. Instead, the task force hosted a March Madness party, with free food and door prizes.
Perhaps most important, the task force invites several high school students each year to join as junior members. The Jefferson County DUI Task Force is one of two in the state to include junior members.
Hanna said that she thinks the junior members “bring life” to the task force by bringing a different perspective to the group. They also have credibility with younger students, Reiter says, helping to spread the word to their peers.
Reiter said she enjoys harnessing junior members’ talents and interests. For Mattie Brustkern, a recent JHS graduate, it was art: She helped design two different billboards that the task force put up on the highway between Boulder and Montana City. In an earlier interview, Brustkern said that she joined the taskforce to get more involved in the community and in Boulder.
Kylie Marks, a Jefferson High junior, focused on writing. She wrote a public service announcement that was aired on the Jefferson County radio station before this year’s graduation to encourage safe and healthy choices for the new graduates. A third junior member, Jefferson High’s Dakota Dorn, made the games the task force uses when it hosts tables at community events.
The task force awards college scholarships, usually $500 each, to junior members who meet certain criteria for involvement and participation. This year, Brustkern, the only graduating junior member, was granted a scholarship. Including new member Laurynn Armstrong, three JHS students are on track to receive scholarships in 2020, Reiter said.
Reiter says the task force is trying to rebuild its presence in Whitehall, where it hasn’t had junior members since 2017.
The task force also sets up information tables at community events like Clancy Days, Frontier Days and the Fair and Rodeo, often coordinating with the county’s law enforcement. Reiter said the task force is trying to air a radio PSA before this week’s Headwaters Country Jam music festival in Three Forks to encourage safe choices at the event and also to give attendees a “heads-up” that their blood alcohol levels may be tested by law enforcement.
Is all this working? Reiter says the number of people ticketed for DUIs in Jefferson County has declined in recent years. The task force can’t be sure if that’s because fewer people are driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or because law enforcement in Jefferson County is understaffed. But it’s still working to spread the word — and to help reverse Montana’s grim history.
