Source: Detroit News June 5th, 2006

By Kim Kozlowski

Proposals targeting repeat offenders and cases of extreme alcohol consumption require treatment, in-car testing device.

Michigan lawmakers are going on the offensive against the state's worst drunken drivers, pushing two measures aimed at cracking down on repeat offenders and people who drive extremely drunk.

One proposal seeks to abolish the practice of wiping convicted drunken drivers' records clean if 10 years have passed since their last offense. The other measure targets people caught driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or above, which is almost double the legal threshold of 0.08. It calls for offenders to undergo mandatory alcohol treatment and to use an in-car device called an ignition interlock that checks their body for alcohol every time they get behind the wheel for one year.

"What we are doing is not working," said Rep. Daniel Acciavatti, R-Chesterfield Township, who is sponsoring the House version of the interlock bill. "The average drunk driver (in Michigan) is .15. That's scary, in my opinion."

Both proposals are aimed at reducing the number of repeat offenders in Michigan, estimated at one-third of the people annually convicted. They also are aimed at reducing the alcohol-related crashes responsible for 8,000 injuries and 416 deaths statewide last year. They come at a time when Michigan drunken driving fatalities have been declining.

It typically takes a 170-pound man about seven drinks on an empty stomach in one hour to reach a blood-alcohol level of 0.15, according to Nicholas Ellinger of the national Mothers Against Drunk Driving office. It takes a 137-pound woman about five drinks on an empty stomach in one hour to get to 0.15.

Eric Olitkowski has been convicted of drunken driving four times, quit drinking and has been using an ignition interlock for nearly a year.

"There's a lot of innocent people getting killed by drunk drivers and repeat drunk drivers getting their license back, going out, getting drunk and driving and killing innocent people," said Olitkowski, 36, of Harrison Township. "Maybe this will save some lives."

Teenager's death inspires bill

Dubbed "Heidi's Law," the bill was introduced by Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer, R-Bellaire, and aimed at repeat offenders was inspired by Bellaire resident Heidi Steiner, who was killed at age 16 in a crash involving Daniel Buffman, who was drunk at the time.

Buffman had a string of alcohol-related offenses and was sentenced to prison for Steiner's death. When he got out nearly 10 years later, he was arrested for drunken driving. Under Michigan's guidelines, however, he was charged as though it was his first offense and was sentenced to 93 days in jail, the maximum for a first-time offender.

"We were devastated," said Ann Steiner, Heidi's mother. "What an injustice this was for him to have the previous record and he wasn't even admitted to prison."

Even more troubling is what could happen, Steiner said. "We are just worried some other family is going to go through what we went through."

Elsenheimer said he expects the legislation to be voted on by the full House by fall and said he has broad support.

"It really is one of those bills that when people hear about it, they shake their heads and wonder why it wasn't done before," Elsenheimer said. "Society needs some protection from these people."

The second proposal, expected to be introduced in both chambers of the Legislature in coming weeks, is expected to be embraced in concept but may prompt considerable debate on the details. Some advocates think stiffer penalties for drivers with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 may be too aggressive; it would affect most of the 55,000 people caught driving drunk in Michigan each year.

Taylor resident Eric Winton can't believe that first-time drunken drivers could be required to use an ignition interlock.

"That's crazy," said Winton, 33, who was convicted of drunken driving three years ago. His blood-alcohol level was more than 0.15 at the time.

"It would probably scare the hell out of a lot of people, but I don't know if it would work. Maybe it might work for the social drinkers, but I don't know about the true alcoholics."

If the bill is approved, Michigan would join a growing list of states that rely on ignition interlocks to reduce the number of heavy drinkers who drive.

The device will make a big difference, advocates say, because current laws don't always deter first-time offenders from drinking and driving again. They typically spend a night in jail, get slapped with fines and court costs and, possibly, end up doing community service. Their licenses are suspended or restricted for up to six months, though some say there's no way to enforce the suspensions or restrictions.

"If all your equipment works on your car, odds are you can get away with" driving without a license, said Sgt. Perry Curtis of Michigan State Police's Alcohol Enforcement Unit.

Treatment varies in Mich.

The ignition interlock proposal would allow convicted drunken drivers to get behind the wheel legally, since the device would prevent the car from starting if the driver has a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.025. The device, which costs the user $2.50 per day, also requires the driver to blow into it several times an hour while driving.

Treatment varies across the state in drunken driving cases, so the proposed law would streamline the way it's offered. Offenders would pay for their own treatment.

Studies have shown that the combination of technology and treatment is more effective at deterring repeat drunken drivers than raising fines or increasing community service, said Homer Smith of MADD in Michigan.

"The approach of the legislation is therapeutic, rather than punitive," said Smith, who's lobbying for passage of the bills.

So far the most controversial part of the bills is whether the definition of a high blood-alcohol level is too high, said Acciavatti.

But numerous studies have shown that people driving with a 0.15 blood-alcohol concentration or higher are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes. In 2000, 64 percent of drunken drivers who were killed had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher, according to a 2004 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"The sooner we get those high-risk folks on this (approach), the less repeat offenders will be in the system," Acciavattisaid. "Those repeat offenders will be able to drive to school, to health care, to work with this device. They just won't be able to drive drunk."

Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia have laws that address high blood-alcohol levels.

Meanwhile, many advocates are watching New Mexico, which last year began requiring that all first-time offenders use ignition interlocks for a year. Two-time offenders must use the interlock for two years, and four-time offenders must use it for life.

New Mexico used to have the most drunken drivers per capita in the nation, but that has changed. Since the law went into effect last June, fatalities have declined 12 percent, from 219 in 2004 to 193 in 2005. Arrests also declined, from 20,154 in 2004 to 17,815 in 2005.

Brad Erlandson would like to see similar changes in Michigan. He was paralyzed from the waist down following a head-on collision with a drunken driver four years ago. Before his injury, Erlandson led an active life with his wife and two sons but he has since focused every day on just struggling to survive.

"I don't think it's quite enough," Erlandson said of the proposals, "but it's on the right track."

 

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