DUI reforms target repeat offenders; lawmakers discuss ignition interlocks
Toolbox
By Daniel Barlow Vermont Press Bureau - Published: April 18, 2008
MONTPELIER – House lawmakers are taking cautious steps toward requiring ignition interlocks in the vehicles of drunken driving offenders as part of a series of reforms to the state's DUI laws.
Rep. William Lippert, D-Hinesburg, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday that he plans to ask the state to begin studying that option as a way to cut down on the number of people arrested multiple times for DUI.
"My intention here is to increase safety on the highways of Vermont," he said Thursday. "It's an issue we'll probably engage in more directly in early 2009, but the interest is certainly there."
Vermont is one of only five states with no laws on alcohol ignition locks – a tool that is installed in the vehicle of a DUI offender that would require him or her to breathe into a sensor to prove they have not been drinking before the vehicle will start.
Less than half the states with ignition laws make them mandatory for repeat DUI offenders. Some states have gotten tough on DUI, including New Mexico, where all first-time offenders have the tool installed in their vehicles. Advocates report a 28 percent drop in alcohol-related road fatalities since the law was passed three years ago.
During his weekly press conference Thursday, Gov. James Douglas said that he would be open to having a discussion over the ignition locks with lawmakers.
"We need to think of ways to reduce the carnage on our highways," he said.
Lawmakers are looking at changes to the state's DUI laws following an emotional outpouring at the Statehouse last month over the death of 18-year-old Nick Fournier, who was killed by a drunk driver in November 2007.
That driver, 33-year-old Shawn Burritt, was a multiple-DUI offender with a suspended license who told police he drank at least eight beers at a bar before he drove a borrowed vehicle down the wrong way of I-89. He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison this week.
Another proposed revision to DUI laws, which started in the Vermont Senate and predated the public push from Fournier's friends and family for tougher laws, would expand the list of the drugs that fall under the state's DUI laws to include more prescription med-icines and the kind of highs popular on the street, such as "huffing" fumes or inhalants.
Only federally regulated drugs contained on a list overseen by the Vermont Department of Health fall under the DUI law, officials have said. Members of the law enforcement community are concerned that list is not up to date with the new drugs being abused.
"Right now, if someone took Ambien and got in their car and killed someone, they could not be prosecuted for DUI," said Stuart Schurr, the traffic safety prosecutor for the Vermont Association of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs. "That's because it is not a regulated drug."
Debate Thursday morning in the House Judiciary Committee centered on the specific language in the Senate bill as some lawmakers and advocates worried that Vermonters legitimately taking prescription drugs might get swept up for DUI.
"Showing that a drug might affect a person is a completely different standard," said Defender General Matthew Valerio. "It can't be the mere presence of the drug in the system, it has to be the impact on the person."
Whether or not a person has been prescribed a drug is irrelevant if that substance impairs their judgment and causes an accident, responded Schurr.
"It doesn't matter if you've been told to take the drug, if the damage is already done," he said.
Other revisions to the state's DUI law under consideration by the House committee include criminal penalties – up to a $5,000 fine and two years in prison – for those who knowingly allow a person with a suspended license to drive their vehicle in situations where death or serious bodily injury occur.
Lawmakers are also considering changing the information-sharing processes between the Vermont Department of Corrections and state law enforcement. Critics have pointed out that Burritt was stopped for driving with a suspended license by police prior to the fatal accident, but that a communication breakdown led to his probation officer not knowing of that incident.
"Police need to know while they are out on the road if a person might be violating their probation," said Rep. Alison Clarkson, D-Woodstock. "This could save lives."
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@rutlandherald.com.
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