No tolerance for repeat DUIs

Here's a couple of numbers to consider:

Nearly half of the drunken drivers who caused fatal automobile crashes in Utah last year were repeat offenders.

Imposing a zero-tolerance DUI law could result in a 25 percent drop in fatal and serious injury accidents, according to Maine's experience with a similar law.

Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Salt Lake, who lost a sister in a drunken driving accident 30 years ago, has a message for repeat drunken drivers: Enough is enough.

Walker is sponsoring legislation that would designate any person convicted of drunken driving as an "alcohol-restricted driver" with the state's driver's license division. Drivers with such a designation could not drive with a "measurable or detectable" amount of alcohol in their systems for two years. A violation of the zero-tolerance law would be a class B misdemeanor, punishable by a year in jail and $1,000 in fines. If the driver's blood-alcohol content is above .08, a driver could 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.

The time has come to crack down on repeat drunken drivers who are menaces to everyone else on the roads. The same can be said of first-time offenders, but statistically speaking, repeat drunken drivers are more likely to cause injury or death than first-time offenders. Among all drunken driving offenders, 71 percent never get another DUI. The repeat offenders represent about 2 percent of the state's population but are responsible for half of drunken driving crashes statewide.

Walker's bill, which would also make it harder for a person suspected of driving drunk to refuse a chemical test of blood, breath, urine or other bodily fluids, sets a high threshold for DUI offenders. It is hoped that a new approach to the menace of drunken driving would reduce the numbers of accidents that kill or seriously injure other drivers. It would do so by forcing chronic drunken drivers off the roads for extended periods of time, by virtue of jail time and fines, or by forcing them to get treatment for their substance-abuse problems.

Walker's instincts are correct. Her legislative colleagues need to follow her lead with the passage of SB42.