BILLINGS — The holidays bring joy to many families, but they can also represent heartbreak and tragedy for others. In a recent four-year stretch, nearly 5,000 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in the U.S. during December alone.
Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Brennen Plucker has been patrolling Montana highways for the past seven years, responding to the persistent problem of impaired driving.
"We will respond to the DUI calls every single night," Plucker said.
Watch Trooper Plucker talk about driving under the influence:
Drunk drivers are something he encounters regularly, and snow on the roads doesn't change that reality.
"It's not uncommon for us to respond to slide-offs or crashes involving impaired driving, even on the really slick roads," Plucker said.
His mission is to prevent crashes before they happen by identifying impaired drivers through specific warning signs.
"We want to go out and proactively stop that impaired driver before they have the opportunity to hurt themselves or somebody else," Plucker said.
Officers look for drivers who can't maintain their lanes, vary their speeds, cross over lane lines, or nearly cause collisions. Slick winter roads make the situation even more dangerous.
"It could be difficult enough to drive in those roads safely without being impaired, let alone being under the influence of alcohol or drugs and failing to keep your car on the road is even more difficult," Plucker said.
In a report from Forbes, data reveals that almost 45% of deaths on Montana's roads are caused by drunk drivers.
"As a law enforcement officer having to see those things, we want to go out and prevent those as much as possible," Plucker said.
Lem Robinson knows this pain firsthand after his daughter Savanah, who died May 26th on Highway 3 west of the Billings airport, involving an impaired driver.
With the holidays approaching, the loss feels especially acute.
"The pain is so hard," Robinson said. "It's just empty, I mean, just void."
The affects extend far beyond immediate family members.
"It affects people you don't even know that it affects," Robinson said. "You just don't know how deep it runs. It's horrible."
Plucker emphasizes that prevention starts with planning ahead.
"The biggest thing is just to plan ahead and to make other arrangements if they know that they're going to go out and drink," Plucker said.
Those caught driving impaired face serious consequences.
"If we do have a client somebody that's driving impaired, they're going to be arrested and they're probably going to be spending the night in jail," Plucker said.
Related: Billings father looking to change laws after his daughter died in motorcycle accident
