Anti-drunken driving laws
Vermont is among several states that should toughen its anti-drunken driving laws, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Combating drunken driving is one of the agency’s top 10 issues important to transportation safety. The board said Vermont is among eight states that have implemented four or fewer of the board’s 11 recommendations that would help combat drunken driving, although legislation that took effect Friday in Vermont addresses some of the safety board’s concerns. A few of the agency’s suggestions are incorporated into provisions of Nick’s Law, the new legislation that toughens penalties for repeated drunken-driving convictions. The law is named for Nick Fournier, who died in 2007 at age 18 in an accident involving a drunken driver with three prior convictions.
Vermont lawmakers felt added urgency to pass the legislation with the Dec. 26 death of Kaye Bronfman in Burlington in a crash involving an accused repeat drunken driver. The safety board is targeting what it calls hard-core drunken drivers. The board defines these as drivers with either a prior drunken-driving arrest or a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent or greater. Of 10,839 people killed in alcohol-related traffic deaths in 2009, 7,607 of them involved hard-core drunken drivers, according to the safety board.
Provisions in Nick’s Law include imprisonment of up to six months for people who allow an impaired person to borrow a car. People who have a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit for driving who have a prior driving under the influence conviction will have their allowable legal blood-alcohol limit for driving reduced from 0.08 to 0.02 percent.
Rick Springfield Charged With DUI 0107.11
Rick Springfield has been charged with two counts of DUI after his arrest in Malibu in May. When he was pulled over, he blew a .10 and was so angry at his car being towed away (a $200,000, 1963 Corvette Stingray) that he threatened to kill the officer and their family. The officials didn’t take the threat seriously however, saying: “It is rare when a drunk doesn’t say something outlandish to police when they’re arrester If convicted on the misdemeanor charges, Springfield faces a maximum punishment of six months in jail a
DUI Blood Warrant Law Takes Effect in Montana 0107.11
Montana is taking a stronger stance on impaired driving. The Montana highway patrol reports about 50-percent of those suspected of DUI refuse to have their blood-alcohol level tested. A new law that goes into effect today aims to stop that practice by allowing an officer to call a judge on the spot to get a warrant for a blood test.
Captain Keith Edged of the Montana Highway Patrol said, “People are going to learn that refusals are not going to be an avenue or a loophole they can use to avoid prosecution.”