Panel OKs 'zero tolerance' DUI

"Zero tolerance" was the message Tuesday as a Senate committee approved a bill that would significantly penalize drunken drivers for repeat offenses.

SB42 changes the allowed blood alcohol content (BAC) for those convicted of a DUI violation to zero. That means offenders for two years could not drive with a "measurable or detectable" amount of alcohol in their system.

A violation would be a class B misdemeanor, which allows for up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines.

"This takes a person that has already demonstrated they're unable to use sound judgment to zero," said Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Fred Swain. "If you're going to drink, you can't drive. If you're going to drive, you can't drink."

Added sponsoring Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights: "You get picked up for a DUI, you don't get a second chance."

Under the proposal, any person convicted of drunken driving is automatically designated an "alcohol restricted driver" with the state's driver's license division.

After making a stop, an officer can check for an alcohol restriction, then make an arrest and impound the vehicle if necessary.

If the BAC is above .08, a driver can also be arrested for a DUI violation — a second class B misdemeanor. With the second DUI violation, a person would be classified as an alcohol-restricted driver for 10 years, under the proposed legislation.

A third offense results in a felony charge and would mean "zero tolerance" driving for life.

"It actually makes it easier for the person who might violate," Swain said. "There's no guesswork. It's zero tolerance."

Members of the Senate Transportation Committee passed the bill unanimously and with little comment.

But law enforcement officials, representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the state DUI committee were very vocal in their support.

"It's just an excellent piece of legislation to reduce death and injury," said Art Brown, president of the Utah MADD chapter. "Once these crashes are over, you can't put things back together again."

When the bill passed, Walker and Brown embraced in the hall outside the committee room. "Art lost a grandchild," said Walker. "I lost a sister 30 years ago. We know the pain from going through it."

Statistics show that repeat offenders are more likely to cause injury or death than those committing a first offense, Brown said. Of the people arrested for DUI's in Utah, 71 percent never get another DUI, while 29 percent are repeat offenders.

"That class of drivers represents only 2 percent of the population . . . but yet they're behind half of the crashes," Brown said.

"This is the thing we need to do to keep our rate (of accidents) from creeping up."