100 Deadliest Days of Summer

Starting Thursday, May 24, 2018, and continuing through September 3, 2018, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office, in conjunction with both state and local law enforcement agencies, will increase No Refusal Operations and Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) and Boating While Intoxicated (BWI) Enforcement on the roadways of Montgomery County and on Lake Conroe. The goal of this initiative is to prevent boating and traffic related crashes and deaths caused by impaired drivers during the upcoming summer holiday season – the roughly 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day when alcohol and drug related crashes and fatalities are on the rise – i.e. the “Dead Days of Summer.”

During this time period, the District Attorney’s office, through their No Refusal TxDOT Grant, will provide nurses, prosecutors, and investigators at various locations throughout the county and on Lake Conroe to assist law enforcement in obtaining blood evidence in cases were a DWI/BWI suspect refuses to provide a scientific sample. The process is simple, but effective: 1) an officer makes a DWI/BWI arrest and asks the suspect for a breath or blood sample; 2) if the suspect refuses, the officer then meets with a prosecutor who will draft a search warrant for the suspect’s blood; 3) the warrant is sent to an on-call judge who will review the warrant for probable cause; 4) if probable cause is found, a nurse will then take a sample of the DWI/BWI suspect’s blood.

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These No Refusal Operations ensure that scientific evidence is obtained in all DWI and BWI cases and provides the prosecution with strong evidence of guilt or innocence. As part of these operations, many Montgomery County law enforcement agencies have committed to increasing the number of officers on the streets and on Lake Conroe to catch as many impaired drivers as possible during this summer period. Some of the participating agencies include:

Andrew James, Vehicular Crimes Chief, shared that “We are entering that time of year where we typically see an increase in DWIs and fatality crashes. Our hope this summer season is that people make safe choices and designate a sober driver or use one of the various ridesharing options, like Uber. There are no excuses for driving intoxicated and law enforcement stands ready to arrest anyone who puts the community in danger.”

Montgomery County & Texas DWI & Fatal Crash Fact Sheet:

• In 2016, 3,773 people died on Texas roadways; 987 of those were in crashes where a driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and 455 deaths were the result of distracted driving.
• In 2016, 265,076 people were injured in Texas motor vehicle crashes.
• Montgomery County, Texas, has the highest fatality rate in the state for counties with over 500,000 residents.
• Each year in Montgomery County, there is on average 60 fatal crashes. Of those fatal crashes, more than half occur because a driver is intoxicated on drugs or alcohol. And of the alcohol/drug related fatalities, more than 50% of the time, the intoxicated driver kills themselves in a single car crash.
• In 2016, the average Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) for those DWI suspects arrested in Montgomery County where a blood search warrant was obtained was 0.18, over double the legal limit.
• In 2016, 751 blood search warrants were obtained in DWI cases in Montgomery County.
• After being arrested for DWI, a person can spend on average $12,000.00 in attorney’s fees, driver’s license suspensions, and fines and court costs.

Source: Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Vehicular Crimes Division – “100 Deadliest Days of Summer”

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