With new laws cracking down on drinking and driving and introducing restricted drivers licenses for teen-aged beginning motorists, the 2005 Legislature did a lot to make Montana roads safer.

But equally important was a law signed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer this week to give a long-overdue boost to the Highway Patrol.

The bill increased patrol officers' pay and, for the first time in more than 30 years, expanded the patrol's manpower.

The patrol has been losing officers to city and county law enforcement on a regular basis because its pay rates have been so much lower. The new rates for an entry level officer is jumping from $12.90 an hour to $17.40. That hike should keep the patrol from having to constantly re-train new officers at the law enforcement academy, only to lose them, too. But it also will ensure that more experienced officers are available when you need them.

In order to keep Highway Patrol pay competitive, future raises will be based on surveys of pay rates in the sheriff departments of the state's most populated counties.

With more patrol officers on the road, they should be able to get to you more quickly. The patrol will add 39 officers by 2007, the first expansion since back in 1972, when traffic counts were significantly lower.

Patrol officers, who not only face the unknown with each traffic stop but usually are first at the scene of horrific accidents, well deserve their raise. And Montana motorists deserve the safer roads that will result.