Sixth OWI Offenses? Wisconsin's 'Reform' Act This March Didn't Address Them
The Journal Sentinel's NewsWatch blog today reports the arrest of a New Berlin driver in Greenfield for his sixth OWI.
Wisconsin's most recent changes to our state's relatively weak drunk driving statutes (when compared to most other states) only addressed OWI convictions seven-through-nine.
Wisconsin is the only state which treats a first offense as a non-criminalized ticketing offense, and even a fourth OWI conviction in Wisconsin remains a misdemeanor.
You don't get to the felony level until conviction number five, by which time the risk of a crash and harm to the driver and others has multiplied.
The highly-publicized, recent triple-fatality crash in Oconomowoc was allegedly caused by a driver with three prior OWI convictions, but who had not yet reported to jail to begin serving a 75-day misdemeanor sentence for his 4th conviction.
If we defined repeat drunk driving offenses as equivalent to the repeated firing of a gun down a highway, the penalties would be swifter, tougher and more effective.
It is regrettable that the legislature continues to treat this dangerous and tragic situation with such passivity.
2 comments:
Perhaps if we had viable mass transit in Wisconsin, judges would not be so inclined to penalize the drunk drivers so lightly. Obviously there is no viable alternative to driving in most of this state, so yanking someones driving privileges is tantamount to the death penalty. I'm all for European style penalties for DWI, but build/rebuild inexpensive public transit to eliminate the need to drive in Wisconsin. Go south of the border into the Chicago suburbs, and you can ride Metra while enjoying a beer without fear of DWI. Try that here.
Does this passivity of our legislators reflect public opinion on this subject? I doubt it. I cannot believe the public is indifferent to this problem. Personally, I would support a major reform effort here -- a comprehensive, multidiscipline, fully-researched, public health approach to the problem.
And should we take away the vehicles of drunk drivers? Absolutely. How can the Journal Sentinel editorial 'we' call for lasting cultural change and at the same time fail to support taking away the vehicle, the very measure most likely to signal the serious intent of reform?
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