Missoula police will be out in force on New Year's Eve in a concerted effort to keep drunk drivers off the road.

Corporal Paul Kelly says extra patrols of police, sheriff's deputies and troopers from the Montana Highway Patrol will be on the roads around Western Montana looking for drunk, drugged, and distracted drivers.

Kelley says being arrested for DUI is neither enjoyable nor cheap. With the no-tolerance policy in place, no one will get off with a warning, but rather will be arrested and booked into the Missoula County Jail. That humiliating experience, along with the expense of hiring a lawyer, paying for alcohol testing, and possible suspension of a driver's license will hopefully be a deterrent to those who want to take the chance of drinking and driving.

Another nasty consequence of drinking and driving is a massive increase in the cost of insurance, and the fact that anyone convicted of DUI cannot hold a commercial driver's license in the state.

So, Kelly asks all New Year's Eve celebrants to choose a designated driver before the party, so that Missoulians can start 2013 safe...and alive.

Corporal Paul Kelly

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