HELENA — Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton is asking everyone in the county to celebrate the New Year responsibly.
Dutton said LCSO will again have extra patrols out tonight, looking for impaired drivers. He asked people to use common sense before getting behind the wheel.
This year, local bars will be closing well before midnight due to COVID-19 restrictions. Because of that, Dutton said he’s concerned more people might be on the roads after drinking.
”We’re starting to see people who are like, ‘Okay, you can’t be in a bar, so let’s get in a vehicle, have a couple of beers,’ and a couple turn into a couple more,” he said. “Generally you’ll do something that will attract our attention.”
Dutton also reminded everyone to wear their seat belt, saying it’s the simplest thing they can do to protect themselves in case of a crash.
“Buckle up; it really does save lives,” he said.
Finally, he asked everyone to follow COVID guidelines.
“We look forward to 2021,” he said. “We have hopes and dreams that it will be better than 2020, that we will move past the virus. The deaths and the people we’ve said goodbye to will remain in our memory. We hope that we’ll build a better tomorrow and we can look for better things in the future.”
