First-Time Driving Offenders Don't Get Off Easy

Excerpt From Article "First-time driving offenders don't get off easy' - courtesy of CNN.com

Steve Sumner Notes "The good old days are over…"

Now, for the heavy stuff: drunken driving, known as DUI or DWI depending on your state.

In 2006 there were 15,201 alcohol-related fatalities; drivers with blood alcohol content (BAC) with readings of 0.08 or above. This booze-fueled carnage has led governments, law enforcement and other concerned groups to increase their emphasis on ridding the roads of drunken drivers.

The ongoing, heightened efforts of MADD -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Century Council (which is supported by the nation's distillers), are engaged in aggressive programs to stop drunken driving throughout the country.

Their strategies include advertising, education and behavioral change programs. More importantly, serious lobbying for higher penalties has increased, including greater punishments for first-time drunken driving offenders as well as chronic violators.

Fines, penalties, secondary costs and the total negative impact can get downright damaging, oftentimes irreversibly, for first-time offenders.

Depending on where you are arrested for drunken driving and how much blood alcohol level (BAC) your tests show -- plus any additional violations on your record such as reckless driving or speeding -- penalties vary across the nation.

In many states, first offenders are treated quite severely. Here's why: Department of Transportation research from 2006 shows that 54 percent of all impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes were under age 34, with 13 percent between the ages of 16 and 20, making that new driver group most apt to be first-time DUI offenders.

MADD's Operation Memorial Day Court Monitoring Project mirrors national trends with observations in 11 states reflecting national data. It shows that the majority of drunken driving offenders are first-time "arrestees," not first-time drunken drivers, the average age of offenders is 21 to 34 and research shows that first-time offenders arrested for drunken driving have driven drunk more than 87 times before their first arrest. Two-thirds of those whose licenses are suspended for DUI drive anyway.

Even though first-time offenders are in for more serious punishment these days, most states still have a two-tier system with even more serious penalties for repeat DUI offenders and felony drunken driving crime. Currently in all 50 states the BAC for determining drunken driving is .08.

High BAC offenders, especially repeaters, are commonly sentenced to serve higher mandatory jail time such as Florida's nine months versus six months for lower BAC violators. Arizona gives high BACers 30 days compared to 10 for lower BAC offenders and, if you've had two or more for the road, stay away from New Hampshire. There, a .16 BAC can get you an entire year in jail, a full 365 days.

Are higher BAC violators rare? Not at all. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that half of all drivers arrested and half of those convicted of DWI have BACs above .15.

In New York, for example, the two-tier system works as follows: DWI (Driving While Intoxicated or Impaired) is based on a BAC of .08 or higher, while the lower penalty DWAI (Driving While Ability Impaired, which could cover prescription drug effects, etc.) is based on a .05 or higher (which might apply more often, although not necessarily, to first-time offenders).

Even if you get off with only that smaller DWAI fine in New York, do not believe other states are as lenient. Elsewhere, the hole in your pocket can be the size of a 5.9 hemi cylinder bore: up to $5,000 in Indiana, $3,000 in Minnesota and $2,000 in New Hampshire. The smallest listed fines by states are in the $300-500 range but generally include other penalties such as mandatory rehab attendance, community service work, an ignition interlock, loss of license for a period and even some jail time.