HELENA, Mont. — To Andrew Vandaele, the right to drink and drive is as fundamental as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And if you don't agree, well, nobody's forcing you to stay in Montana.
Vandaele, 68, is a retired refrigerator repairman, a lifelong Montanan and self-described "regular guy." He has sipped and steered his entire adult life and says he doesn't plan to change.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday May 10, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 86 words Type of Material: Correction
Montana -- An article Tuesday in Section A about drinking and driving identified Montana's major cities as Bozeman, Helena, Billings and Butte. That list omitted Missoula and Great Falls, which are the state's second- and third-largest cities. It also said that half of the state's population lives in the largest cities; in fact, 32% of the population lives in those six cities. The story also said that Butte has a law banning open containers of alcohol in cars. That city does not have such a law.
"I'm driving home from the lake. It's hot. I pop a beer. As long as I'm not drunk, what's wrong with that?" Vandaele says. He's never hurt anybody. There was the night in 1968, coming home from a Christmas party, where he got a DUI, but even then, he says, he was never out of control. At least not that he remembers.
He and thousands of like-minded Montanans, including some leading legislators, are a main reason why some drunk-driving laws can't find traction in Big Sky country. Such laws are seen as an infringement on the state's live-and-let-live spirit, an attitude one legislator sums up as the region's "cowboy culture."
Even a leader of the state's Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter, Bill Muhs, who's lived in Montana for two decades, concedes the cultural aspect.
"There are still people here who measure distances in six-packs," Muhs says. "Bozeman to Billings is a six-pack drive. Bozeman to Montana City is a two six-pack trip. Crossing the state would be a whole case."
The latest collision of law versus culture took place last month when a MADD-supported bill banning open alcohol containers in vehicles was voted down despite vigorous lobbying from Gov. Judy Martz.
Federal agencies report that 36 states and Washington, D.C., have laws banning open containers of alcohol in cars, and an additional 11 states ban drinking while driving.
Montana, Wyoming and Mississippi are the only states with no federally approved law prohibiting the practice, and, not coincidentally, these states have among the highest numbers of per capita traffic fatalities involving alcohol.
Montana's major cities -- Bozeman, Billings, Butte and Helena -- have open-container laws that apply within city limits, and half the state's population lives in these cities. This helps explain why a 1999 survey found that 74% of Montana residents believed the state already had such a law.
