Ravalli County DUI Rate Sets Dangerously Fast Pace for 2015

Over the March 21 weekend, there were eight DUI arrests in Ravalli County. Eight in a weekend is a higher rate than normal, but overall, the county is seeing a spike in DUI this year.

"It''s kinda high, and concerning," said Ravalli County DUI Task Force Coordinator Glenda Wiles. "In 2013, for DUI number one, which is for the first offense, we had a total of 96. In 2014 we had 140. Already in 2015, for January through February we've already had 24 DUI number one arrests."

Wiles thinks that a struggling economy is contributing to the increasing DUI rate.

"The age group of those getting arrested for DUI are between 20 and 40, and they are men," Wiles said. "We are up pretty high on the age group of 20 to 30, from 28 in 2013 to 40 in 2014. I think that there are more people out there because of the depressed economy, and they think 'hey, let's go out drinking.'"

Another factor for the increased DUI rate could be enforcement. Wiles said that there a number of "younger law enforcement officers who are pretty aggressive, and I think they are out there hunting DUI offenders."