Utah Rep. Carl Wimmer has pet projects in mind

Utah legislators deal with some pretty serious stuff — in the laws they pass, they can take away your property, make you pay taxes, even put you in prison.

But being a lawmaker can be a bit fun, too. Because if you get to make the laws, you can take up what might be called personal causes.

State Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, laughs long and loud when asked about a bill he's having drafted for the January general session titled "Traffic Accident Fine Amendments."

You see, Wimmer was recently stuck in a freeway traffic jam during rush hour.

Someone caused a fender-bender up ahead, and it clogged the freeway for miles.

"Me and maybe 400 other people were stuck for a long time. This carelessness caused a tremendous loss of money and time to people and their employers," Wimmer says.

So he's writing a bill that would "double or triple" the fines for drivers who cause accidents on freeways and other major roads during rush hour. "People just have to be more careful at these times," he says.

"We would detail in the bill what times and roads that would apply to," said Wimmer, who is known as a strict constitutionalist.

Another bill being readied for the 2010 Legislature "would make it clear that any citizen can use reasonable force to physically defend their property," says Wimmer, a bear of a man who has been working security, as a private body guard and landscaper as he and associates try to put together a new health center/workout facility.

The bill stems from an incident involving Payson City Councilman Scott Phillips 18 months ago, which Wimmer said he read about in the media. Phillips was charged with class B misdemeanor assault after he allegedly grabbed two young men by the back of their shirts when he believed they were about to spray paint graffiti on his truck.

It turned out the two men were draping neon tape on a nearby building in a tagging incident, the Deseret News reported at the time.

Phillips pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge and was put on probation.

Wimmer, a former police officer, says it must be made clear to local police and prosecutors that anyone has the right to use reasonable force to stop someone from harming their property, whether it is real property, like a home or business, or personal property, like a car or truck.

Phillips made the young men clean up the tape, which they did.

"We shouldn't be charged with assault or even arrested" in such an incident, Wimmer said. The young men were later charged with a graffiti misdemeanor.

It is just wrong for something like that to happen to Phillips, Wimmer added.

e-mail: bbjr@desnews.com