IS UTAH TOUGH ENOUGH ON DRUNKEN DRIVERS?

Utah has one of the toughest drunken-driving laws anywhere in the United States. But should it be even tougher?

Sen. Craig Peterson, R-Orem, thinks so. He's announced plans to introduce a bill in the 1994 Legislature making it a traffic offense to drive with a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 percent to 0.07 percent - even if the driver is not legally intoxicated."This bill would certainly reinforce the message you just don't drink and drive. Period," Peterson said.

Currently, Utah law presumes impairment at a 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level (and above). Along with about a dozen other states, the 0.08 level of impairment is the lowest anywhere in the nation.

"The bill basically says that a guy with more than a couple of beers will be in trouble with the law," Peterson said. "We're going after not only drunk driving, but driving impaired."

The bill would establish three-tiered system for drunken driving. The lowest level would be a non-moving traffic violation "akin to a seat-belt violation" for driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 to 0.07 percent. The middle level would reinforce the state's current law, which makes it a Class B misdemeanor to drive drunk, with intoxication determined by a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent and above.

Peterson also proposes adding a third level to Utah's DUI that would make it a Class A misdemeanor - reckless endangerment while driving drunk.

"We're still working on definitions for reckless endangerment,"Peterson said. "California's reckless endangerment law kicks in at 0.17 percent and also involves a number of other parameters, like underage children in the vehicle."

Sen. Winn Richards, D-Ogden, has already introduced legislation that would enhance the current Class B misdemeanor for drunken driving to a Class A misdemeanor if children under age 14 are in the vehicle.

The toughest aspect of the 0.04 percent law would be the inconvenience to motorists suspected of drinking who would be hauled to a police station for blood-alcohol testing. "It is kind of onerous in that regard," Peterson said.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Doug Bodrero has some reservations about a three-tiered drunken-driving law. He fears more drunken motorists who are arrested at 0.08 percent and above might plea bargain to the lesser offense.