Published: February 28, 2008 09:51 pm         

One week left to upgrade state’s DUI law

CHARLESTON — Crunch time is coming in this legislative session, and for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, that translates into an all-out stretch drive in the upcoming final week to upgrade West Virginia’s law on DUI.

Senators handily endorsed the bill that grew out of a year-long interims study reinforced by efforts of an ad hoc panel on the side, spearheaded by MADD.

“It’s a very important bill in the sense of saving lives and also making use of fewer resources of government at the local level,” Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, a Charleston surgeon and lead sponsor in the Senate, said Thursday.

Based on his talks with House Judiciary Chair Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha, Foster said he felt “very optimistic” the measure would be acted on in her committee.

But the work doesn’t end there.

The Senate bill was double referenced, meaning it also must travel through the finance committee — a detour that puzzles Donna Hawkins, state director of MADD.

“I’m not sure why it went to finance because it actually is going to save the state money,” she said.

“We are having a challenge to get it through the House. I’m hopeful it will prevail. It’s a great bill all the way round.”

Three key elements are contained within it.

West Virginia would add a new crime known as “aggravated DUI” for motorists whose blood alcohol content is .15 or higher.

Mandatory jail time would run from two days to six months, and anyone convicted of this level must blow into a device known as the Interlock that thwarts auto ignition if alcohol is swimming in the blood stream.

To encourage first-time offenders to use that technology, it could cut in half the 30-day license suspension, allowing them to get back on the road sooner to reach work and hold down a job.

Counties and cities would get some undetermined financial relief, since the bill abolishes the existing 24-hour mandatory lockup for anyone with a BAC from .08 to .14.

In current practice, an arresting officer can book a motorist for DUI, then once a magistrate conducts his hearing, the driver could be returned to complete the 24-hour lock-up, meaning local governments get tagged with double bookings at regional jails.

The per diem cost is $48.50, although that will be lowered by 97 cents as of July 1.

Foster wouldn’t speculate on the kind of reception the Senate bill would get in the House.

“You never know,” he said.

Yet, the senator pointed to the broad-based support the bill attracted through the ad hoc committee that included prosecutors, law enforcement officers, the Division of Motor Vehicles and others last year.

“That gave it some push and makes it more compelling,” Foster said.

In 2006, the last year that statistics were available, drunken drivers killed 129 people in West Virginia and sent 2,600 others to hospitals with non-fatal injuries.

And for Foster, that is the bottom line in spending so much time and effort on the proposed new law.

“For me, as a physician, it’s going to save lives,” he added.

— E-mail: mannix

@register-herald.com