The state Senate unanimously voted Thursday (11/5/09) for a historic overhaul of the state's drunken driving laws that would require more drivers to install ignition interlock devices on their vehicles and make some fourth drunken driving offenses felonies. The bill approved by the Senate mirrors the Assembly bill in many ways. Both would:
-Make a fourth offense a felony if it occurs within five years of a previous offense. Now, drunken driving isn't a felony until the fifth offense.
-Require ignition interlocks for all repeat drunken drivers and for first-time offenders with blood-alcohol levels of 0.15 or greater - nearly twice the legal limit for driving. Ignition interlocks don't allow vehicles to start until drivers can show they don't have alcohol in their system by blowing into a device similar to a Breathalyzer.
-Make first-offense drunken driving a misdemeanor if a child younger than 16 is in the vehicle. Wisconsin is the only state to treat first offenses as traffic tickets, rather than crimes. The provision wouldn't affect punishments for those with two or more offenses if they were caught driving with a child in the vehicle.
-Expand statewide a Winnebago County program that gives judges the option of offering reduced jail time to offenders who complete alcohol or drug treatment. Backers say it saves money while reducing recidivism.
-Eliminate a provision that provides lighter penalties for those with a blood-alcohol level between 0.08 and 0.10, compared with those above 0.10. Those with lower blood-alcohol levels would face the same penalties as those of 0.10 or above.
MADD would have liked to have seen them go further. The group supports requiring ignition interlocks for all offenders, making a first offense a crime and allowing sobriety checkpoints.