From the Register-Herald:

Drunk drivers with .15+ BAC to face harsher penalties June 1

Law also erases mandatory 24-hour lockup, can reduce license suspension to 15 days

By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter

A year-long movement to punish drunken motorists with a blood alcohol content of .15 or higher with harsher penalties and encourage others to use an Interlock before they can start a vehicle becomes law in June.

Gov. Joe Manchin made it official Tuesday by signing SB535, the result of an intense research and lobbying effort by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers in West Virginia.

With West Virginia’s passage of the revised DUI statute, only 11 states are without a law that creates the “aggravated” crime of operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .15 or higher.

Another feature allows first-time offenders blowing a BAC of less than that level to have their licenses reinstated in 15 days, in lieu of the standard 30-day suspension, provided they install an Interlock, a device that prevents an ignition from starting if alcohol is detected when the driver blows into it.

A third element erases the mandatory 24-hour lockup for those with a BAC under .15, thus saving cities and counties some money on inmates sent to regional jails.

“We are very happy to see this finally come to fruition,” MADD’s state director, Donna Hawkins, said Tuesday after Manchin’s decision was announced.

“Very much so. I think it’s going to save lives. It’s definitely going to be a very positive law for West Virginia.”

In the House of Delegates, all provisions were retained, except for one in the Senate version that called for mandatory BAC tests on suspected drunken drivers in accidents that result in deaths or serious injuries.

Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, a Charleston surgeon and the chief sponsor of the Senate version, had no difficulties accepting this single change in his proposal.

For aggravated DUI, the mandatory penalty calls for two days to six months in jail. Hawkins said her group wanted to focus on this key provision in going after motorists with higher blood alcohol levels since they are responsible for the most carnage.

Two years ago, the most recent one for which statistics are available, drunken drivers caused 129 deaths and were blamed in accidents causing 2,600 non-fatal injuries.

Hawkins said the movement led chiefly by MADD began across the nation about a decade ago to crack down on motorists in an aggravated DUI category.

For most of last year, Hawkins personally led a series of meetings as director of an ad hoc committee of lawmakers, prosecutors, police officials and the Division of Motor Vehicles, working in tandem with a legislative interims panel.

“There were a lot of meetings, a lot of hours,” she said.

MADD was a chief proponent in lowering the BAC from the old standard of .10 to .08 to be declared intoxicated.

Manchin plans to conduct a ceremony April 10 with MADD officials, including its national director, Glynn Birch, and Hawkins.

In advance of the bill formally becoming law, Hawkins plans to tour the state to meet with law enforcement and DMV officials, raising public awareness about it and demonstrating how the Interlocks work.

“We’re going into different communities and talk about this new law and what it’s going to do,” she said.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

From the Beckley Register-Herald:

House geared to vote on amended DUI bill

Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — A proposed update in West Virginia’s drunken driving law exited a key House panel with one alteration that proponents say is acceptable.

Omitted was a provision in the Senate version that would have mandated blood alcohol tests of any motorist suspected of being drunk after a fatal highway accident.

Donna Hawkins, head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in West Virginia who spearheaded the legislation, wanted to see the Senate bill left intact.

But Hawkins said Wednesday she was assured by House Judiciary Chairwoman Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha, that she would draft a bill for the 2009 session to deal with such testing.

A House vote on the revised bill is expected Friday.

“I have no problem with it,” Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, said.

Foster was pleased the House panel didn’t tamper with the major components, led by a new offense of “aggravated DUI” for motorists with a BAC of .15 or above. For them, Interlocks attached to vehicles to test a driver’s breath for alcohol would be mandatory.

First-time offenders would have the option of using Interlocks, and the incentive built in the measure would cut in half their license suspension from the existing 30-day period.

A third key element eliminates the mandatory 24-hour lockup for first-time offenders with a BAC of .08 to .149 as a cost-cutting step for counties, many of which are struggling to pay regional jail costs.

Existing practice allows counties to be charged the per diem rate of $48.50 (due to be cut by 97 cents in July) twice since an offender can be jailed a few hours, then returned after going before a magistrate.

Jail costs are swallowing up much of some county budgets. Last year, for instance, Raleigh County was billed more than $2.5 million for keeping inmates at Southern Regional Jail.

“The main points of our legislation are in there,” said Foster, who worked closely most of last year with an ad hoc committee anchored by Hawkins while lawmakers prepared a bill in tandem during the interims.

“I’m convinced it will save lives. And also, it will save resources for the state as well. It’s a good combination.”

From the Beckley Register-Herald:

Panel advances DUI measure with ‘aggravated’ clause

Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — Nearly a year in the making, a revision of West Virginia’s drunken driving law that punishes motorists with a blood alcohol content of .15 or higher exited the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday with its blessing.

Another key element seeks to provide counties and cities with relief from regional jail costs by eliminating the mandatory 24-hour term that now results in “double bookings” that cost $48.50 per diem.

A third provision lets first-time offenders choose to install Interlocks to see if they have ingested any alcohol — regardless of BAC — and if any is present, the ignition won’t start.

By electing to use Interlocks, first-time offenders can cut in half the current 30-day license suspension.

For anyone blowing a BAC of at least .15, the crime would be considered “aggravated DUI” and Interlocks would be mandatory. So is a jail term running from two days to six months.

“It’s a very important bill in terms of safety, as well as for courts and municipalities,” said Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, the key sponsor.

“For me as a physician, safety is the most important part. We’re into the technology age now. We’ve reached the point where we can’t get any farther down in terms of deaths and injuries. This is a start.”

Donna Hawkins, state director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, spearheaded last year’s interims drive and anchored a special ad hoc committee that worked in tandem with lawmakers.

In 2006, the last year that statistics are available, drunken motorists killed 129 people in West Virginia and were blamed in 2,600 non-fatal injuries.

“This is a historical, landmark piece of legislation for West Virginia,” she said.

“This is going to save lives. It’s going to get offenders back on the road quicker. It’s going to save on regional jail costs. It has a lot of great elements in it.”

While no hard figures were available on potential jail savings, Hawkins pointed out as many as 7,000 first-time offenders are jailed each year.

MADD preferred to see mandatory use of Interlocks for first-time offenders with a BAC of .08 to .149, she said, “but at the same time, there is a great incentive in this legislation for those with low BAC levels.”

Committee counsel advised one panelist, Sen. Jesse Guills, R-Greenbrier, that any vehicle used by a convicted drunken driver must be equipped with the Interlock to stay in the program.

And another member, Sen. Vic Sprouse, R-Kanawha, was told that alcohol in a driver’s system will prompt the Interlock to prevent a vehicle from starting.

“There’s really no tolerance,” Foster said.

Hawkins said her group was pleased to see West Virginia move closer to the “aggravated DUI” law. One provision calls for a 45-day license suspension for such offenders, followed by 270 days on the Interlocks.

“Those are the offenders that are true problem drinkers and cause the majority of fatalities in West Virginia,” she added.

From the Beckley Register-Herald:

DUI bill taking minor detour to Finance Committee subpanel for study

By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — A year-long effort to encourage the use of Interlocks to test the sobriety of drivers and punish more harshly those with a blood alcohol content of .15 or higher ran into a temporary detour Thursday.

Mindful of the complex nature of the bill, Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, decided to dish it off to a three-member subpanel.

Donna Hawkins, state president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the prime mover of the bill that consumed a year of interims study and work by an ad hoc panel she directed, was visibly disappointed by the delay.

But Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, who keyed the push for the bill in the Legislature, didn’t mind that a panel composed of Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, Education Chairman Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, and Sen. Vic Sprouse, R-Kanawha, would study it further.

“I don’t object to that,” Foster said afterward. “They want to look at the financial aspects.

“It’s a complicated bill. I think the tenor of comments we heard from the other members of the committee indicated they will move on it.”

The idea is cut from 30 days to 15 the length of a license suspension of first-time offenders who voluntarily install the Interlock, a device that measures BAC and won’t let one start if it’s too high.

“We’re going to run the bill,” Chafin promised. “We want to understand the bill more clearly. Obviously, it’s a big issue in West Virginia. We’ve got jails full, and prisons.”

In the so-called “aggravated DUI” category of .15 or above, motorists would spend a mandatory jail term of two days to six months and be fined from $200 to $1,000. A license could be revoked for up to 270 days.

Another aspect that makes it attractive to counties struggling to pay regional jail costs wipes out the mandatory 24-hour lockup for first-time offenders.

“What actually happens now, individuals are brought into a holding cell to see a magistrate, and that could be two hours or 10 to 12 hours,” Foster told the panel.

“Then they will see a magistrate who can decide whether they stay 24 hours or not, or is free to leave. Before, they had to go back and finish up the 24 hours.”

And that, he emphasized, amounts to double booking for the same offense, meaning a county has to shell out twice for the same individual.

Hawkins told the panel she has no problem with eliminating the 24-hour mandatory sentence in existing law.

“We think this is an excellent bill,” the Charleston resident said. “We fully support this piece of legislation. We think it will save lives.”

In 2006, the last year figures were available, drunken drivers were blamed in 129 deaths and some 2,500 non-fatal injuries.

“What we have found with MADD is that jail time alone is not the deterrent,” she said.

“We believe the Interlock provision in this bill will help save lives. And it gets the offender back on the road faster. It allows them to provide for families. And it will also save on regional jail costs, which we know is a big concern.”