Stricter Penalties Await the “Super Drunk” in Michigan
Posted on Oct 28, 2010 4:58pm PDT
As reported by Michigan "M" Live, Bay County officials are looking at the new statutes both lawmakers, and lawyers, have to contend with due to a new initiative that starts on October 31.
The "Super Drunk" law has new penalties for first-time DUI offenders if they register at least a 0.17 on a breathalyzer test. Michigan will be joining 45 other states that have already taken on the new stricter laws.
Some of the lawyers and legislatures believe that the initiative may be too harsh or unnecessary.
If a DUI offender were to register a 0.16 and lower, the punishment is 93 days in jail and a fine up to $500. With a 0.17 the offender will receive 180 days in jail and fines up to $700.
Legislators also required offenders to have one year of counseling and one year of driver's license suspension. They may get their licenses back after 45 days if they opt to a restriction of having an ignition interlock device be installed in their vehicle. The device is a breathalyzer that actually prevents a vehicle from starting if it registers the driver with more than a .025.
Bay City Attorney Jason P. Gower argued, "The legislature is attempting to fix something that is not broken. Our current drunk driving laws are quite effective." The Office of Highway Safety Planning statistic from 2005 to 2009 that showed a 26 percent decline in serious alcohol-related car crashes.
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, in looking at the 2009 statistics that also revealed a one-year decline in crashes said, "…our efforts to discourage drinking and driving are working."
Gower believes the new legislation was primarily done to appease Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD.
State Rep. Jeff Mayes, D-Bay City, approves of the new law and said in response, "I don't recall being approached by anyone from MADD. We do know that if someone can blow at that level, they've built up a tolerance and they probably have a problem with alcohol."
The ignition interlock device is named as an integral part of the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving on the MADD website.
The Bay county has a bad reputation for heavy drinking and the new law is thought to affect hundreds of drivers there every year.
Sgt. Daryl Middleton of the Bay City Post reported, "Unscientifically, I can say we do get a lot of drivers (in Bay County) with high blood alcohol levels. It's not uncommon to see a BAC in the 0.15 range. Most are around 0.12 but, especially with your experienced drinkers, they can easily run over 0.17."
Middleton said, "We have to have people out there to catch (drunk drivers) but every police department has cut staff. We need more enforcement. But we need more people to do it."
An Arlington, Va., a non profit funded by auto insurers, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, defines "hard-core" drunk drivers as anyone with a minimum of 0.15 blood alcohol content.
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