Darling, Ott Propose Tougher Drunken Driving Laws

State Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Jim Ott announced on Friday proposed legislation that would increase the penalties for drunken driving offenses, including criminalizing some first time offenses.

The proposed law would make a driver with .15 blood alcohol content a misdemeanor rather than a municipal offense. A second proposal makes a third time offense a felony. A blood alcohol content of .08 is considered evidence of drunken driving.

Ott acknowledged that the measure will probably not make it to the Assembly floor before September, weeks after Darling is expected to face Rep. Sandy Pasch, a Democrat, in a recall election.

Tougher drunken driving legislation is perennially introduced in Wisconsin’s state house but without much success, said Darling, a Republican from River Hills.

“We’re tired of the ‘yeah, but’ every time we talk about it,” Darling said at a press conference Friday morning at the North Shore Fire Station in Brown Deer. “We are trying to change behaviors. We are trying to change the tolerance for drunken driving.”

Ott, a Republican from Mequon, said the legislation is not the end of the effort to reduce the incidence of drunken driving but an important step.

“Our goal is not to put people in jail or to stop people from having a good time,” Ott said. “We are just saying that if you are impaired, don’t get behind the wheel.”

Darling and Ott was joined at the podium by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and Paul Jenkins, who lost a granddaughter, a daughter and her unborn child in 2008 in an Oconomowoc crash caused by a medical doctor with a history drunken driving.

Jenkins said the Legislature refused to hear a similar bill in December 2009.

“Judy (his wife) and I pretty much gave up hope after that,” Jenkins said.

Mark Benson was sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with the crash that also injured two other children. Just two days before the crash his driver’s license had been revoked because of another drunken driving conviction.

“Mark Benson has filed a motion asking for a reduction in his 30-year sentence,” Jenkins noted.

The cost of stiffer penalties has perennially been cited when legislation is introduced. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau noted that tougher penalties would cost as much as $150 million more, not including the cost of prosecutors.

Nonetheless, Darling said she supports the measure despite the tough budgetary times in part because she is convinced that the economy is picking up.

“We need to stand up for the victims and their families,” Darling said.

Wisconsin laws are more lax than any other state and Clarke noted that Wisconsin attitudes must also change.

“We have a culture of drinking in Wisconsin,” Clarke said. “USA Today named Wisconsin the nation’s watering hole.”