Hopefully, the legislation needed to strengthen Alabama’s DUI penalties will pass in next year’s legislative session. Mobile County Senator Rusty Glover and two other southwest Alabama lawmakers, Marc Keahey of Grove Hill and Spencer Coller of Irvington, say they will work together to pass a bill next year. Their proposed bill would:

• Establish a second level of offense: aggravated DUI. Under current law, a driver with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or higher is drunk. Once that level reaches 0.15, the driver would be subject to aggravated DUI and double the minimum penalty.
• Eliminate the five-year cutoff when considering an offender’s DUI history, to open the way for stiffer sentences.
• Require offenders to participate in programs with victims of drunken drivers.
• Force people convicted of drunken driving to install devices on their cars that lock the ignition if alcohol is detected on their breath.
• Change the state law that currently requires less punishment for a fourth DUI offense than for a third.

As has been widely reported, a high percentage of those who are killed in motor vehicle accidents are involved in alcohol-related crashes. In such cases, someone is usually intoxicated. Some Alabama lawmakers believe DUI offenders are already punished harshly enough. I totally disagree with that view. Based on what we see in our practice, I am convinced we need to get tougher on drunk drivers. A significant number of the motor vehicle accidents we handle involve drunk drivers.

Rep. Collier, a former State Trooper, believes the line has to be drawn somewhere, saying that people with a 0.15 blood-alcohol level typically pose a greater risk and drive drunk more frequently than those caught with lower levels. The lawmaker says, however, that the provision requiring “ignition interlock devices” in the cars of DUI offenders is a separate matter and should be considered in its own bill. It would appear that such a measure is important enough for it to be included in the DUI bill. I doubt it would pass in a separate bill.

Alabama’s DUI laws are too weak and should be upgraded. The current laws don’t provide enough incentive for persons to avoid driving when they are drinking. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been pushing hard for stronger DUI laws and will help get this needed legislation passed. If you agree that we need to get tougher on drunk drivers, and that the legislators should do their part, let your Senators and House members know before the next session.

Source: Mobile Press Register

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