Lewis and Clark County sheriff prioritizes warnings in summer traffic crackdown
Dangerous driving is entering Montana’s deadliest stretch, and Sheriff Leo Dutton says Lewis and Clark County will start with warnings before tickets.
Lewis and Clark County is heading into Montana’s most dangerous driving season with more troopers on the road, a local sheriff saying warnings will come before tickets, and state officials pressing drivers to slow down before summer crashes turn deadly.
Sheriff-Coroner Leo C. Dutton said the county’s approach is meant to stop bad habits before they become fatal wrecks on local roads. The warning-first strategy comes as Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer and the beginning of the “100 Deadliest Days of Summer,” the period Montana officials define as running from Memorial Day to Labor Day, when fatal crashes have historically increased.
Statewide, the Montana Highway Patrol said it will increase trooper presence on roads and highways throughout the summer campaign, with a focus on drunk and drugged drivers, speed, and seat-belt violations. That push is backed by traffic data that shows the problem remains stubbornly present even before the busiest travel weeks arrive.
In a May 23, 2025 press release, Attorney General Austin Knudsen said Montana recorded 65 traffic fatalities from Jan. 1 through May 21, 2025, nearly the same as 66 during the same period in 2024. He also said alcohol-involved fatalities were down nearly 30% and speed-related fatalities were down 35% from the same point a year earlier, a sign officials say enforcement and driver behavior both still matter.
The Montana Department of Transportation says summer is the deadliest time on Montana roads despite generally dry weather. Unsafe passing, swerving, speeding, distraction, impairment and fatigue remain the biggest threats, and MDT says many of the state’s deadliest crashes are speed-related. It also says hundreds of deadly and serious crashes each year involve drunk or tired drivers.
Crash data tracked by the Montana Department of Transportation and the Montana Highway Patrol can be reviewed by county, part of the state’s broader fatality reporting system. For Lewis and Clark County, the message from Dutton and state officials is straightforward: slow down, stay sober, buckle up and stop treating summer travel like routine driving. The next few months will decide whether the county’s roads stay warning-heavy or turn into part of Montana’s summer death toll.
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