Source: http://www.mlife.com/

Author: TIM MARTIN 5/14/2006 The Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Another round of legislation aimed at toughening laws against drunken drivers is scheduled to be announced Monday. The bills will call for the instant removal of a driver's license at the time of an arrest if the driver fails or refuses to take a breath, blood or urine test to determine alcohol levels.

Penalties for refusing to take a test would increase and become stricter than for failing a test.The legislation sponsored by Rep. Kathy Angerer, a Democrat from Dundee, also would create a state agency to coordinate government's efforts at reducing underage drinking.

The bills, expected to be introduced within the next several weeks, are among several in the works or already introduced aimed at further reducing drunken driving in Michigan. Both Republicans and Democrats are working on legislation.

The state has seen a decline in alcohol-related fatal accidents as its laws against driving while intoxicated have become stricter."We need to continue to drive these numbers down," said Angerer, who said her car was totaled when hit by a drunk driver last year — an accident that left three people in a different vehicle injured. There were 408 deaths in alcohol or drug-related traffic accidents in 2005, down 28 percent from 1995, according to the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center. Alcohol or drugs were still involved in about 36 percent of all fatal traffic crashes, however, a percentage that has not changed much in the past decade.

Police made 54,036 arrests for driving while under the influence of alcohol in 2005, down 9 percent from 1995 levels.Rep. Dan Acciavatti, a Republican from Macomb County's Chesterfield Township, is expected to introduce bills targeting drunken driving within the next few weeks. Part of the package will deal with drivers with high blood alcohol levels and those who drive on suspended licenses. The package will propose more use of so-called "ignition interlock" systems on vehicles of convicted drunken drivers. The units include a breathalyzer wired into a vehicle's ignition system. The vehicle won't start unless the driver passes the breathalyzer.

Several other bills related to drunken driving penalties have been introduced in the state Legislature this session. House Republicans have introduced bills that would toughen penalties for drivers with high blood alcohol levels or repeat offenses and for accidents that result in death. Another GOP proposal would allow out-of-state offenses to count as prior convictions so subsequent drunken driving penalties could be tougher. In the state Senate, Democrats have introduced a bill that would require blood alcohol content tests for some accidents that result in serious injury.