The Push To Toughen DUI Laws

by | Sep 18, 2015 | World Featured

Washington state lawmakers have had a successful legislative year. From lowering college tuition to investments in mental health, there is one issue that most would call a failure: toughening DUI laws. The state house is being called out after failing to vote on a bill that would toughen punishments on repeat DUI offenders. Despite being approved by the state Senate three times, the House allowed this potential life-saving measure slip through the legislative cracks.

It is unfortunate mistake as shown by recent news headlines, such as the case of one Bothell woman who severely injured another woman in a head-on collision. The driver did not only have a suspended license, but was seriously impaired by the influence of alcohol. The Seattle Times reports that the suspect was found to have a marijuana pipe in her possession and smelled strongly of alcohol. Further investigations discovered that the woman had two previous DUIs. This is just one of many stories of repeat DUI offenders getting behind the wheel and injuring innocent people.

Even worse is the case of a driver who flipped his car on the West Seattle Bridge. Authorities say the breathalyzer results revealed that his blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit. Unsurprisingly, this was his fifth DUI arrest. While it is good that no one else was injured, it is a real miracle once it was discovered that his 1-year-old daughter was a passenger in the car at the time of the accident.

Most people would find a DUI arrest as a life-altering event and change their behavior. Unfortunately, this is not the case for some who find alcohol to be an addiction. This is why it is so important to make sure repeat offenders can not be allowed to remain on the streets. They should be sentenced to time in a penitentiary.

The bill in question is SSSB 5105. Written by Washington state Senator David Frockt (D-Seattle), the bill would make a fourth DUI conviction in 10 years a felony. It would also send repeat offenders to state prison, instead of just giving them a short stint in county jail. While most states have laws that make consecutive DUI arrests felonies, Washington lags behind the progress. As the Senate heard several tragic stories of families affected by DUI-related car accidents, the support was showed by unanimous support for the bill. Not only single senator voted against the measure.

State Senators who were present for the telling of these extremely tragic stories shared some of the horrific details with the media. For example, there was the story of Dennis and Judy Schulte. The pair died after the car they were in was struck by a pickup truck. Their daughter-in-law was also a passenger in the car and was severely injured. As in the other cases presented, the faulted driver was intoxicated and a repeat offender. The sad fact is that this was a preventable tragedy.

It is outrageous that the House did not allow their members to vote on this bill that would have such an impact on society. There has been rumor that the lack of voting was due to the Democratic leadership wanting the Senate to pass a different measure pertaining to the early release of property-crime offenders. The rumored measure would allow these property-crime offenders to get out of jail early for good behavior and only be subjected to supervision. It is ridiculous to believe that the House would rather deal with property-crime offenders than these repeat DUI offenders that are injuring and killing innocent people.

“It is preposterous to think that this bill was swept under the rug as a manipulative political move,” explains Daniel Perlman, a Los Angeles DUI lawyer. “Whatever the reasons, it it pertinent that something be done to protect society from these dangerous DUI offenders.”

In the opinion piece written by State Senator Mike Padden (R-Spokane Valley), he said that it is an outrage that the bill has not been passed yet.

“While making a fourth DUI a felony may not be the final step in strengthening our DUI laws, it is a good first step, and one the Legislature should take as soon as lawmakers return in January.”

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