BOZEMAN – Holidays like the 4th of July can be dangerous times on the road because of drunk drivers.
Bozeman police say this year, three DUI’s were recorded, which is higher than a usual Wednesday.
"But really as far as what we do with our time, our free on the street time, is we look for impaired drivers or look for traffic violations no matter if it is a holiday or not,” said Bozeman Police Sergeant Travis Munter.
According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving, each year more than 300,000 people drive drunk with only 30,000 of them getting arrested.
This has led to people like Tom Marquardt creating safe ride phone applications.
“You know, every 50 minutes in America somebody dies from a drunk or impaired driver. Not just hurt, dies. That’s thousands and thousands of people a year drying from a reason they don’t have to,” said Marquardt.
The ‘I’m Drunk’ app Marquardt helped create has users open up the app, press the safe ride button, and then a list of taxi and tow companies as well as rideshare services pop up on their phone. The user can call whichever service they feel most comfortable riding.
“You never have to drink and drive or be impaired and drive again. Two clicks to save a life we like to call it,” said Marquardt.
“For the people that say well I don’t feel that drunk, I mean if you feel like you have been drinking you are starting to get impaired by the alcohol you have consumed,” said Sgt. Munter.
Munter says with all of the options citizens now including public transit, Uber, Lyft, and apps like I’m Drunk, no one should feel like they need to drive drunk.
