Distracted Driving

Thousands of fans will be driving into Missoula this weekend for the 118th Brawl of the Wild football game between the Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State Bobcats.

The 100 Deadly Days of Summer began over Memorial Day weekend in Montana. Julie Tomasik with AAA said over the past five years, more than 5,000 people have been killed in crashes involving teen drivers during this same period.

Every 15 minutes, a high school-age student in the United States experiences an injury or death due to drunk or distracted driving, and that image was brought home powerfully to students at Loyola Sacred Heart High School on Wednesday through what they called the 'Ghost Out'.

The Montana Department of Transportation has a bold initiative to reduce Montana traffic fatalities to zero in 2016.

Distracted driving has shown to be the number one killer of teens in the U.S., according to a 2009 report. But in Montana, that doesn't stop some teens.

Statistically, the summer months are the most dangerous for drivers between the ages of 15 and 21. In fact,in 2012,  according to AAA, an average of 399 teens died in traffic crashes in the U.S. during each of the summer months.

Dozens of people, some of who are friends and family of the late Chance Geery, gathered in front of the Missoula County Courthouse. They carried signs asking for justice for the young man who was killed on April 1 by a distracted driver while walking on the sidewalk along Mullan Road.

Starting Tuesday, Feb. 5 drivers using cellphones without a hand-free device will be ticketed and fined by Missoula police.