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State of Montana Assessment of the Impaired Driving Program

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State of Montana Assessment of the Impaired Driving Program STATE OF MONTANA Assessment of the IMPAIRED DRIVING PROGRAM May 5-10, 2013 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Assessment Team Susan N. Bryant Judge Linda L. Chezem Darrell Fisher Judge Joseph Thomas Flies-Away Robert P. Lillis Joan L. Vecchi 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. INTRODUCTION ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. BACKGROUND ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. MONTANA IMPAIRED DRIVING PROGRAM I. Program Management and Strategic Planning .............. Error! Bookmark not defined. A. State and Tribal DWI Task Forces or Commissions Error! Bookmark not defined. B. Strategic Planning .................................................................................................... 15 C. Program Management .............................................................................................. 19 D. Resources ................................................................................................................. 24 II. Prevention .................................................................................................................... 31 A. Responsible Alcohol Service ................................................................................... 31 B. Community-Based Programs ................................................................................... 38 B-1 Schools ............................................................................................................... 38 B-2 Employers .......................................................................................................... 43 B-3 Community Coalitions and Traffic Safety Programs ......................................... 45 B-4 Transportation Alternatives ............................................................................... 49 III. Criminal Justice System .............................................................................................. 50 A. Laws ......................................................................................................................... 50 B. Enforcement ............................................................................................................. 56 C. Prosecution ............................................................................................................... 61 D. Adjudication ............................................................................................................. 64 E. Administrative Sanctions and Driver Licensing Programs ...................................... 70 IV. Communication Program ............................................................................................ 80 V. Alcohol and Other Drug Misuse: Screening, Assessment, Treatment and Rehabilitation ........................................................................................................................................... 87 A. Screening and Assessment ...................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.7 1. Criminal Justice System ........................................................................................ 88 2. Medical and Other Settings .................................................................................. 91 B. Treatment and Rehabilitation ................................................................................... 93 VI. Program Evaluation and Data .................................................................................... 98 A. Evaluation ................................................................................................................ 98 B. Data and Records ................................................................................................... 101 C. Driver Records Systems ......................................................................................... 104 ASSESSMENT TEAM CREDENTIALS ........................................................................... 106 AGENDA ......................................................................................................................... 115 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Impaired Driving Program Assessment Team acknowledges and thanks Audrey Allums, Bureau Chief and Lorelle Demont, Impaired Driving Traffic Safety Planner of the Montana State Highway Traffic Safety Section (SHTSS) for their assistance in making this assessment possible. The team would particularly like to acknowledge Sheila Cozzie, Cultural Liaison Traffic Safety Planner for her efforts and support in bringing this assessment process together. Ms. Cozzie works tirelessly for the state of Montana with limited assistance and performs her duties in a manner that reflects positively on herself and the SHTSS. The quality of their efforts and coordination to provide the Assessment Team with an effective and professional group of interviewees cannot be overstated. The team would like to thank the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for helping to give a national and regional perspective and support to the assessment. The assessment process was facilitated by Shirley Wise, NHTSA Region 10. The team wishes to commend Evelyn Avant, Administrative Assistant, for her ability to coordinate and manage the production of the final report and support to the team. The team thanks each of the participants in the review for the time and energy invested in preparing and delivering their presentations. Their candor and thoroughness in discussing their activities to target impaired driving in Montana greatly assisted the team in conducting a complete review. The review team commends all who are involved in the day-to-day efforts to reduce impaired driving in Montana. The technical assistance team was comprised of Judge Linda Chezem, Judge Joseph Thomas Flies-Away, Susan Bryant, Darrell Fisher, Rob Lillis, and Joan Vecchi. The report produced by this team, based on the Assessment review, is intended to assist Montana's efforts to enhance the effectiveness of its alcohol-impaired driving program by equipping the criminal justice community and law enforcement officials with the knowledge and skills to detect, arrest, and prosecute alcohol-impaired drivers. This team believes that this report will contribute to the State’s efforts to enhance the effectiveness of its impaired driving program in preventing injuries, saving lives, and reducing economic costs of motor vehicle crashes on Montana’s roadways, and commends all who are involved in the day-to-day efforts to reduce impaired driving in Montana. 3 INTRODUCTION The mission of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is to reduce deaths, injuries, and economic and property losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. In its ongoing pursuit to reduce alcohol-related traffic crashes and subsequent fatalities and injuries, NHTSA offers Highway Safety Program Assessments to the States. The Highway Safety Program Assessment process is an assistance tool that allows management to review various highway safety and emergency medical services (EMS) programs. Program assessments are provided for emergency medical services, occupant protection, impaired driving, traffic records, motorcycle safety, police traffic services, drivers education, and pedestrian and bicycle safety. The purpose of the assessment is to allow State management to review all components of a given highway safety or EMS program, note the program's strengths and accomplishments, and note where improvements can be made. The assessment can be used as a management tool for planning purposes and for making decisions about how to best use available resources. The highway safety and EMS program assessments provide an organized approach, along with well-defined procedures, that States can use to meet these objectives. The assessments are cooperative efforts among state highway safety offices, state EMS offices, and NHTSA. In some instances, the private sector is also a partner in the effort. Program assessments are generally based on the “Uniform Guidelines for State Highway Safety Programs,” which are required by Congress and periodically updated through a public rulemaking process. For each highway safety program area, the criteria against which each state program is assessed have been developed through use of the uniform guidelines, augmented by current best practices. NHTSA staff facilitates the assessment process by assembling an assessment team, a team of experts composed of individuals who have demonstrated competence in impaired driving program development and evaluation, to review all components of a given highway safety or EMS program, note the program’s strengths and accomplishments, and note where improvements can be made. The Montana Department of Transportation requested NHTSA’s assistance in assessing the State’s alcohol and drug impaired driving countermeasures program to comply with 23 CFR 1200.23 promulgated under Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) to qualify for the Impaired Driving Countermeasures Grant. Under MAP-21, States that have an average impaired driving fatality rate that is 0.60 or higher are considered high-range states. Montana is considered a high-range stste and is therefore required to conduct a NHTSA facilitated assessment of the State’s impaired driving
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