Healthy Highways
- By Col. James E Champagne
- Executive Director, Louisiana Highway Safety Commission
- Governor's Highway Safety Representative
Strict DWI law designed to make roads safer
A new Louisiana Law increases the severity of penalties that can be assessed to DWI offenders. This year, the legislature passed and Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed a bill by Rep, Emest Wooton of Belle Chasse and others that combines technology with penalties to keep people who have been drinking from behind the wheel.
Drunk driving is a persistent problem in Louisiana and across the nation—one which contributed to the loss of nearly 450 lives in our state last year(2007) and more than 17,000 across the nation. Louisiana authorities arrested more than 17,000 drivers on DWI charges in 2005.
Because this problem is so pervasive, lawmakers and highway safety experts constantly search for new initiatives to reduce the deaths that are caused by people who insist on driving while impaired.
With the new DWI law, which became effective Aug. 15, 2007, Persons convicted of first–offense DWI now face a one–year suspension of their driver's license—up from 90 days under the previous law. The law also requires DWI offenders whose licenses are suspended to install ignition interlock devices in their vehicles, if they are granted hardship license.
Hardship licenses are sometimes granted to allow people to drive to and from certain places, such as a job or doctor's office. However, under the new law, people issued a hardship license will be required to pay for the ignition interlock device, which can cost as much as $1000 for installation and monthly fees. Before starting the car, drivers will first need to breathe into the device to determine blood alcohol concentration. if there is a measurable alcohol in the driver's blood, the vehicle won't start.
Precedent shows that ignition interlocks could help save a significant number of lives in Louisiana. In New Mexico, which in 2003 became the first state to require ignition interlocks for convicted DWI offenders, alcohol fatality rates fell from 225 in 2002 to 191 in 2006—a 15 percent decline, or 34 fewer deaths. New Mexico is less than half the size of Louisiana, which suggest a greater number of lives could be saved in our state.
Drivers who are issued DWI tickets face numerous consequences and expenses other than the one–year suspension of their driver's license and the ignition interlock requirement. People convicted of first–offense DWI can also face an estimated three thousand dollars in fines, court fees, attorney's fees, and other expenses as well as a possible rate increase in automobile insurance.
The new law also authorizes doctors, registered nurses, nurse practitioners and other qualified technicians to perform tests to determine if a person is intoxicated when directed to do so by an officer. That is, if an officer has probable cause to believe that a person was driving while intoxicated, he can order the chemical test if a person has refused to submit to the test on two previous occasions or if the accident involves a fatality or serious injury. This limits a suspects ability to refuse a breath alcohol exam.
The new DWI law was passed to make the roadways safer for everyone, and we are confident it will result in saving lives and reducing the number of alcohol–related injuries on our highways.
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News & Events
March 15, 2008 Gov. Kathleen Blanco has signed a bill into law that gets tough with drivers in Louisiana who get behind the wheel after drinking too much.
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