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Kentucky effort would boost DUI penalties

If a Kentucky state lawmaker gets his way, people who continue to get behind the wheel after a previous conviction of drunken driving would pay a heftier price for their wrongdoing.

Rep. Mike Harmon, R-Danville, has prefiled a bill for consideration during the 2011 regular session that would create a three-tier set of penalties for anyone convicted at least twice for driving under the influence. Kentucky now uses a four-tier system.

The state’s five-year “look-back” window that is used to monitor prior offenses would also be expanded to 10 years. In addition, an offender’s vehicle could be forfeited if his license had been previously suspended.

“All too often, DUI offenders are released with little more than a slap on the hand,” Harmon said in a statement. “Unless we enact stringent laws punishing this behavior, violators are more likely to drive under the influence again, with the activity becoming a vicious and dangerous cycle.”

Kentucky is one of 23 states identified this month by the National Transportation Safety Board as needing to enact at least three more program elements to address hard-core drunken driving.

To hammer the point home that harsher punishment is needed, the NTSB singled out an incident in Kentucky 22 years ago as the nation’s deadliest drunken driving accident. In that accident, a drunk driver struck an activity bus head-on, killing 27. The driver allegedly had a history of impaired driving convictions, and had a blood-alcohol content of 0.26 percent – more than three times the current legal limit.

Harmon’s legislation and others can be considered during the session that begins Jan. 4, 2011.

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